Sweet Dreams
by highonair435
Summary: Bella is an aspiring actress at Briarwood, a boarding school of the arts. She finally lands the role of a lifetime, all she ever wanted. But then she meets Edward Cullen. Will he show her that there's more to life than just a musical? ALL HUMAN R
1. Audition

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, or anything related to the wonderful Stephenie Meyer. I'm just someone who writes fanfics. Please don't sue me. I dont like to be sued. **

**Yeah so this is my first fanfic. Read it, and tell me what you think :) **

I sat in the front seat of my car, inhaling deep, ragged breaths. I tried to concentrate on staying calm, and keeping my nervousness under control. I sat there for a couple of minutes, listening to the low hum of the air conditioner, and feeling the draft tingle across my face. After a while, I closed my eyes.

When I shut my lids, I started to think. Only one thing was on my mind. The Audition.

I didn't think it went bad, but I certainty didn't give it my best. I replayed the good, and bad, parts in my mind once again.

0o0o0

"Kick, bolt, change, brush, spin, release, and.." he paused to inhale then continued once again "Step, step, lunge, bring it back, kick, jump and freeze. You got that ladies?" said Mr. Daniels, the dance instructor. He had been rambling on for a minute giving us dance moves. The only problem was, he was sitting on a chair on the edge of the stage. We had to think for a minute, replaying the moves in our heads. A couple of freshman were staring at Mr. Daniels like he just spoke pig Latin. Some sophomores were doing the moves physically. Lauren, the blond little wannabe, rolled her eyes at him and put her hands on her hips. "Easier all the time," she muttered.

"Review, girls. We're going over the routine when I get back." said Mr. Daniels. He stood up from the white plastic chair and left through the back entrance on the left side of the stage. Laurens little clique took it as a cue, and they all simultaneously crossed their arms and delivered glares to the competition. I tried to keep from laughing hysterically. That was definitely one of the most funniest things I had ever seen. It was like watching a group of obnoxious 5 year olds play out a piece of _Mean Girls _in a school playground. Despite my efforts, a giggle escaped the edge of my lips, which then turned into a full fledged, short lived laugh.

Laurens head snapped in my direction, and her cold, icy eyes glared into mine. I stopped abruptly, and she snorted. "Whats so funny, albino? You can't get a date?" she said in her annoying, nasal voice. "W-" I started, but my voice was drowned out by a chorus of giggles. My face flushed with anger. I couldn't remember the witty remark I was about to make.

"Are you upset about Jakie?" Leah said mockingly. By stomach experienced a wave of sickness. Jacob. I was stupid enough to fall for him not even three days ago. He seemed so sweet and sincere at the Valentines Day dance. On Saturday, we went to a party. We got drunk, and we became a couple that night. He asked me out on a date on Sunday, and I agreed. Once I got to the movie theater he was making out with Leah, practically eating her face off. The image burned into my memory. The girls were all laughing at me quietly. I felt tears well up in my eyes, clouding my vision. Just before I burst into tears, a familiar, pixie-like figure appeared at my side.

"Laurens just scared that she wont get the part. I mean, whoever heard of a blond Jasmine? And the fact that her voice sounds like shes holding her nose 24/7 doesn't help either." she said venomously. Lauren scowled at her, and she snorted, averting her gaze. She tugged at my arm lightly and beckoned me to follow her. "Come on Bella," she said. We went to the right side of the stage, far away from Lauren and her clique of sluts. I sighed gratefully.

"Thanks Alice, you're always good at making bitchy comebacks," I laughed as I slightly ruffled her black spiky hair, which was too short to pile up in the required bun. We practiced the dance moves then, putting Mr. Daniels words into actions. As soon as we were done, he came back with a CD player in his hands.

"Now I want you all to split into groups of three. I will call you in groups to do the routine together. Line up at the corner." He took a brief pause to let people split off into groups. Angie, Alice, and I then teamed up together, and lined up at the corner of the stage where all the other groups were waiting anxiously for their turn. Of course, Lauren, Leah, and Jessica were at the front. They took their places at the center of the floor. Mr. Daniels started the music.

They did their movements gracefully and well coordinated. It went without a flaw. Not even a hair flew out of place. Where was the justice?

Lauren smiled at Mr. Daniels then turned her head to smile at me. Then she strut to the other side of the stage, and sat down with Leah and Jess. Jess whispered something in Laurens ear which caused her and Leah to giggle, and to look in my direction. I felt a hot taste in my mouth.

"Bella, don't get worked up over her, she pisses all of us off. She _wants_ you to get mad at her" Angie murmured. Alice gave her an ' I know what you mean' look. I sighed and let it go, looking away from Lauren and the rest of them. Angie was right, I needed to cool it. I couldn't let this slut get me aggravated all the time.

I rocked on the tips of my toes. A sharp pain stopped me halfway. "Ouch" I muttered. I looked down at my left foot and sighed. Angie's character shoes were a little too tight on me. I undid the strap and stuck it in the shoe instead of on the buckle. I moved up in line. Time seemed to be passing too slow. Would it ever be our turn?

After a few minutes we were up, and we got in a triangular position in the middle of the stage. Mr. Daniels started the music. I recognized Petey Pablo's "Show me tha Money" blaring from the speakers. We waited anxiously for Mr. Daniels to give us the cue to begin. Almost as if he could read my mind, he counted off to the beat. He shouted "1,2,3 and!"

We broke out into a dance in the beginning of the chorus. I didn't pay attention to whatever Angie and Alice were doing. I was too involved into my own dance. After the first set of moves, we broke into improvisation. I put my hands on my knees and rolled my head around. Then, I abruptly pulled back and clapped my hands together. I steadied myself for the next set of moves. It was all going great. I smiled at Mr. Daniels. His mouth was in the shape of a perfect "O". That was good. I wanted to see what Lauren could make of this.

We were almost finished when the worst happened. I got too excited and did the last kick over my head, doing a perfect split. Then, my left shoe slid effortlessly off my foot, and landed halfway across the auditorium. I heard a guy yell in shock somewhere in the room. I finished my move by snapping my knee back behind my leg. My face reddened. I probably looked awkward with no shoe on one foot, with my arms stationed in a strange position, almost like I was hugging the air, which was much too graceful for the song that was playing. I mentally slapped myself. Stupid, Stupid Bella.

It was even worse when the laughing started. Large bursts of hysteria filled the room, mocking me. I heard Laurens horrible, nasal laugh somewhere nearby, and my body tightened. I felt like running from the room, from the school, from the country. Anything to get out of here.

Eventually the laughter quieted down to giggles, and then it stopped all together. Mr. Daniels had a straight face, but I could tell it took him all he had to not laugh with the rest of them.

"Thank you all for coming and we'll post the cast members on the conservatory bulletin board this Friday." Mr. Daniels said before packing up his stuff.

He waited for everyone to leave, then turned to face me.

"Bella." he said, his voice kind. "What I see in you, is what I see in me. You have the potential to become a professional dancer, to be on Broadway!" he paused, then looked at me in the eye. "I want you to work hard on your act this week Bella, I would hate it if Lauren Mallory got the part of Jasmine. Think about what I told you." he finished.

I stared at him in amazement. Broadway? Me? Right, like that was going to happen. But still, that was probably the nicest compliment I've gotten here, especially from Mr. Daniels. He's practically the Simon Cowell of Brentwood Academy!

"Thank you Mr. Daniels, and I'll work hard, you know I always do." I laughed.

"Make sure you do" he responded. Then he folded the plastic chair and set it behind the curtain. He turned to the door to leave.

"Bye, Bella!" he shouted as he exited the auditorium.

"Bye." I murmured a second too late.

"Excuse me?" said a velvety voice a couple of feet behind me. I spun around to see who it was.

He was the most beautiful boy I had ever seen. I never expected to see his face anywhere but in the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine. He had sharp cheekbones, and curved lips, which were warped into a frown now. I had the sudden urge to stroke them, but I held myself back. His eyes were a mesmerizing shade of forest green. The two warm orbs bore towards my eyes. I was locked into them. Eventually, my eyes broke through his spell and traveled upward, past the large span of his forehead and into a jungle of bronze hair. I jumped back, surprised. His locks were glowing, light was radiating from the roots of his tangled hair. Like it was _alive._ My eyes darted back and forth all over his body, taking in all of his muscles. Every inch of his body was glowing also. I expected 'Alleluia' to start playing. Holy cow. Who was he?

"Hello? Can you hear me?" said the mysterious boy. I was thrown back into reality. I realized that one of the stage lights were directed towards him, and that was the reason he was glowing. _Wow Bella, how stupid can you get? _I told myself.

"Yeah, sorry. W-what can I do for you?" I stuttered. I stared at the chipping red nail polish on my big toe, and I wiggled it a little. How embarrassing.

"Here's your shoe. Make sure you don't hit anyone next time." he said coldly. I took my shoe from his hand. I stared at him with wide eyes.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry! Are you OK? Where did I hit you? It was an accident, I'm sorry!" I rambled on and on. Only when he put his hand up to stop me did my lips close.

"Listen, don't worry about it, I know it was an accident. Now if you excuse me I'm going to go get an icepack." he said in a flat voice. I could tell he was trying to be polite, but his anger made that impossible. He shrugged past me, and his backpack almost knocked me over. He left through the main exit of the auditorium, rubbing the top of his head with his hand.

Embarrassed, I jammed my foot into Angie's too small shoe. I tightened the buckle as far as it could go. _There. I want to see it fly off my foot now. _I sighed, and gathered my things. I left through the stage door to get into the parking lot.

0o0o0

Which brought me back here. I opened my eyes. The sun was falling over the horizon. Woah. How much time had passed already? Had I fallen asleep? Flustered, I started to pull out of the parking lot. I was in for it now. I flipped open my cell phone. 11 missed calls. They were probably all from Alice. I checked the time on the dashboard. 6:47. Great. I had homework to do, and Alice to deal with. I pushed my foot on the pedal and sped away.

**Review! Tell me what you think. Please give me constructive criticism, I need it. Thanks :D**


	2. Angels

**Disclaimer: Again, I don't own Twilight. All that belongs to the amazing Stephenie Meyer. Please don't sue me. I don't like being sued. **

**Yay! This chapter is longer! I promised you people! **

**I have Bellas outfit for the audition up on my profile.. check it out :) **

**-highonair435**

I woke up to a frantic voice in my ear.

Bella! Bella!" the anxious, soprano voice said. This girl, whoever she was, was jumping up and down on my bed. It was really starting to bug me.

"Five more minutes," I mumbled sleepily into the pillow. She probably didn't hear me, the pillow made my voice all muffled.

"No! We need to get ready _now!"_ she shouted. She was shaking my arms violently, trying at a futile attempt to get me up.

"No!" I shouted with more power. Conscience was coming to me fast now, and I didn't want my dream to end. I was dreaming about the bronze haired boy smiling at me, and giving me flowers. Who was she to interrupt my sleep?

"If that's how you want it.." she drifted off. She climbed off of my bed. Finally, sleep. I sighed into the pillow, and drifted.

It seemed like only seconds later that I felt a cold liquid splash directly on my face, entering my nose, and causing my lids to snap open.

I literally jumped out of bed in a quick, involuntary movement. I was greeted by a smug looking Alice at my side, holding an empty glass in her small, pale fingers.

"What the hell, Alice?" shouted. I glared into her ocean blue eyes, looking for a satisfying answer. She returned my stare intently.

"Bella you _needed_ to get up. If we're going to do your hair, makeup, and find a pretty outfit for the singing audition, we need to start getting you ready _now!" _she pouted. It was hard to resist such a pleading expression, especially from a 17 year old who really looked like she was 10.

"Fine, as long as you don't overdo it." I said in defeat. Who was I kidding? I knew Alice was bound to go overboard, like she always did.

"Stay here while I get everything ready. Don't even try to go back to bed." Alice said, shaking her finger at me. "Rosalie, watch over her." she finished. With that, she skipped to the bathroom.

I sighed. "Rose? Can you not tell on me?" I whined. Rosalie sat up on the bed. Her shimmering golden locks still looked beautiful, even put up in a sloppy bun. It looked like she went to the hairdresser and gotten it done. She always managed to pull things off, with not even knowing it. A photographer for Vogue could have walked in right now, taken a picture of her, and left with the front cover of the monthly issue.

Thats why it was so hard being her best friend, and her roommate, when I was jealous of her all the time. She was an overall nice person to me and Alice, but to everyone else she seemed aloof. She wasn't a dancer like a lot of people in this school, or even a singer. She wasn't even an actress! She was a musician, an art that all of the boys were in. I'd bet they'd have a hard time concentrating with her lurking around. They wouldn't dare to bother her though, if they didn't want to get beat up by her bear of a boyfriend, Emmett.

"Sorry Bella, I don't want to get Alice angry at me this early in the morning," she yawned. "Besides, she's right. You need to look nice for the audition. You need to make a good impression on Mrs. White, the new judge." she finished. With that, she plopped back on the bed, and covered her head with a fluffy white pillow. I sighed in defeat. _Thanks for the help Rose. _

"Bella!" Alice yelled in a singsong voice from the bathroom. "Everything's ready!"

"Coming Alice," I grumbled in a voice too low for Alice or even Rosalie to hear. I slipped out of the warm protection of the sheets and entered the bathroom.

"Sit," Alice said with a devilish grin.

"Alice please don't go over the top on this," I reminded her.

"Wait and see, Bella." was all she answered.

So I sat for hours in the bathroom, memorizing the pattern of tiles on the sink. Alice forbid me to look in the mirror, and I obliged, to scared of what the outcome might be to look anyway. The minutes dragged on. It was only uncomfortable on the rare occasions when she would play around with my hair, making me wonder how it was coming out.

So instead I thought of what song I should sing. I needed a challenging song to land the role. _Maybe soprano,_ I pondered. Of course I needed a song with feeling. Without feeling in a song, its meaningless. Like bread without butter. Who likes to eat toast? A song to make me express my emotions, so people would see it..

"Look Bella!" Alice said triumphantly. I caught to see her facial expression. She was grinning ear to ear. Whatever she did, she was obviously happy with the turnout. Oh no, that couldn't be good.

She held a mirror up to my face. I gasped. I had loose curls done halfway into my hair. My hair looked sheen and glossy. I looked like one of those celebrities on the red carpet, that always had their hair done perfectly for the occasion. I took a look into my eyes. She smudged the mascara nicely. The eyeshadow was a dark shade of Grey near my eyelashes, but lightened up into a pearly white near my eyebrows. My lips were a light shade of pink lip gloss. It wasn't far from my natural lip color, but it looked natural in a pretty way. Bronzer was applied on the very tip of my nose, a bit across my forehead, and on the side of my cheeks, near my ear. Alice did a very nice job. I could barely recognize the person on the other side of the mirror, she looked to beautiful. No where near Rosalie Hale standards, but somewhere along those lines.

"Oh my gosh thanks, Alice!" I squealed. Alice's eyes widened. Then, if it was even possible, her bright smile grew even wider. I brought her into a hug, but then she pushed me away abruptly. All signs of a smile were gone, and she had a mask of anger on her angelic face. I hope she couldn't see the hurt and confusion running through my face.

"After all I did, your just going to ruin your curls by hugging me? I still need to put hairspray on it!" she whined. "Now sit, and let me finish," she ordered. I shook my head, and sat down once more on the plushy white chair.

The next few minutes were uncomfortable. I was worried she was going to ruin my hair with the amount of hairspray she was applying. It seemed that the noise of the spray coming out of the can was endless, and that it would never cease. Finally, she finished.

"Now, we barely have enough time! You were sleeping too much! Who sleeps when they come back from school?" she complained. It was true, I was going to let Alice get me ready after I came back from the dorm, but she was at the coffee shop with her boyfriend Jasper, who just happened to be Rosalie's twin brother. I was going to ask Rose for help, but she was doubling with Alice. It wasn't my fault they came back an hour later. By then, I had finished my homework and started napping, because I had nothing else better to do than sleep.

But I wasn't about to argue with Alice when the auditions were 15 minutes away. She still needed to pick out an outfit. I certainty wasn't going to sing in my white tank top and fishie pajamas.

"Stay here and don't move, I need to find you an outfit." she warned. Then she danced out of the room, and into her walk-in closet. I slumped even deeper into the velvet chair.

She was back in a matter of seconds. She had a salmon colored top and jeans slung over her shoulders. She was grinning evilly. Whatever she had on her must of cost over 200 dollars.

"Alice," I warned. She ignored me, and she opened the medicine cabinet. She seemed to be rummaging for something. In a couple of seconds, she held a pair of scissors in her tiny, manicured fingers. She cut the price tag off the salmon top. What landed in my lap made me jump.

"Stella McCartney! ALICE THIS TOP IS 1,195 DOLLARS! ARE YOU INSANE??" I screamed at her. She held my shoulders and had a pleading look on her face. Her bottom lip was formed into a pout. Her eyes were wide open, and her eyebrows were raised. Then her bottom lip trembled. A heartbreaking expression. It was hard to resist a friend who was as tall as a 9 year old.

"Aw, Alice don't do that. Fine, I'll wear it." I surrendered. I knew she would get it on me if I gave in or not. She went back to cutting the price tag off the jeans. It flew into the sink. True Religion jeans. I didn't even want to know how much they cost.

"Here," she said happily. She handed the salmon top. I took off my tank and put the top on. I turned to the bathroom mirror to get a closer look at it.

The texture felt good against my skin. It was light and airy, so it was probably silk. The sleeves were ruffled and beautiful, and ended a bit past my elbows. They were held together with buttoned cuffs. Now I knew why it was so expensive.

I didn't have a chance to look at the top, because Alice handed me a pair of jeans. I slipped them on. They felt stretchy and comfortable. I looked over my outfit. All in all, I was pleased with the results. I would have no problem with appearance now. I turned to face Alice. She wasn't with me.

"Alice?" I questioned. I looked around to see where she had gone, but I didn't see her anywhere.

"Over here," she said. She walked out of the closet with a pair of leopard print pumps. Oh God.

"Put them on," she ordered. I sighed and put them on. There was no way I could back down now, I was in too deep in Alice's trap. I looked down. They were surprisingly comfortable for a pair of pumps. But then again, it was probably a bazillion dollars, so it needed to be comfy. I twisted my ankle to look at the bottom of the shoe.

"Alice, the sole is red, it doesn't go with the top," I complained. Alice looked on the verge of tears, she was probably proud of me for finally saying something doesn't match. She soon regained control to answer me. She went from angry, to sad, to happy. Was she bipolar or something?

"It doesn't need to silly, it's just the designer. Christian Louboutin makes all his shoes with red soles, it's his trademark," she laughed. I had a roll of unease flow through my stomach. Christian Louboutin. Why was she doing this to me?

"Now come on! The audition starts in 10 minutes," she said. I followed her wordlessly out of the girls dorms and into her yellow Porsche 911 turbo. The engine purred quietly. Now I knew why Alice always bought the most expensive stuff. Everything was so comfortable and glamorous.

She put on a CD. I listened to the beginning of Angels by Within Temptation.

Then the idea hit me. Thats it! It was perfect! It was within my vocal range, but it was challenging and emotional. I wondered how I didn't think of it sooner. After all it used to be one of my favorite songs..

My thoughts were interrupted by a gushing Alice. "Good luck Bella, though we both know you don't need it," she squealed. It was hard to doubt the excitement in her shimmering blue eyes. Alice had the tendency to guess things correctly.

"Thanks, Alice. You know, for everything," I said joyfully. I actually did mean it. The hours of sitting in the bathroom were suddenly worth looking pretty and dressing up nice.

"Oh, Bella!" she squeaked. "Go! You barely have any time left. Bye!"

"Bye Alice," I said before I climbed out of her Porsche. I watched it speed away.

I turned to face my new challenge. I saw a few people walking up the conservatory steps, looking as nicely dressed as I did. Thank God Alice knew what she was doing.

I opened the doors and met a snooty looking Jessica Stanley. She had her hands on her hips and shot a venomous stare at my direction I walked up to her heavily made up face. It looked disgusting.

I decided to make her have a taste of her own medicine. I gave her a swift, but fluent, look over. My eyes traveled enough to let her know that I was looking. I detected a sleeveless red midriff paired up with black shorts and outrageously high black kitten heels. I snorted.

"So you're a total Mallory drone now aren't you?" I questioned sarcastically. "Let's see, slutty outfit, check. Bitchy attitude, check. 50 pounds of makeup, check. All you need is a 3,000 dollar reconstruction of your body and you're good," I smiled bitterly.

Her face heated up violently. I continued.

"Aw, you're blushing? I'm surprised that with all the layers of foundation you have on, you still can."

That hit a nerve. She narrowed her eyes at me.

"You're just jealous that I left you for Lauren. Your mad that I'm more popular than you now." she spat.

"Popular? You think your little clique of hores are popular? Try _slutty. _Ask anyone on campus, and they'll all agree with me," I snapped. With that, I left her and proceeded to the side of the stage to get my number. I saw her face heartbroken and on the verge of tears. I almost felt sorry for her. _Almost. _What stopped me from feeling bad for her was that she left me for that bitch Lauren Mallory when I needed her the most.

"Bella?" said a hauntingly familiar voice behind me. I turned around to see a perverted looking Jacob Black behind me. He winked at me. I felt vomit climb up my throat. He was probably remembering the stuff we did Saturday night. Not that I remembered, I was wasted.

"Go away, Jake." I said grimly. He sauntered towards me, still smiling like a lunatic.

"You know, I'm auditioning for Aladdin." he said seductively.

"I guessed as much, now go away or else," I said haughtily. I stuck up my nose for extra effect.

"Or else, what?" he said, his face inches away from mine.

Words climbed up my throat, but I couldn't say anything. I felt completely terrified. I realized what this emotion was. I was afraid. I was _afraid _of Jacob Black. Was that what my subconsciousness was trying to tell me all along?

"Leave her alone," said a velvety, familiar voice behind me. But it wasn't scarily familiar, as Jacobs had been. It was almost... comforting. Or reassuring.

Jacob pulled back from me, and laughed. "Edward," he said.

"Jacob," the mystery boy responded. I turned my face to see who it was.

It was the bronze haired boy I saw two days ago, the one who I hit on the head with a shoe. I felt my face redden at the memory. Edward was it? An old name, like one grandpas had. I wonder where he was from. A small town, maybe? Or a rich family, the one where the sons inherited fathers names.

Jacob laughed again, but it was a kind of nervous, shaky laugh. "Right," he responded. "Well, Bella, I'll see you later." he said in a flat little voice. I found myself chuckling as I was watching his retreating figure disappear.

"Did he do anything to you?" Edward asked. His sweet breath was all over my face. It took all I had to not breath in his heavenly scent. _Get a hold on yourself Bella, God he's a guy you barely know. Do you __want__ him to think your an anti-social freak? _

"No actually, he was just bothering me. Thanks though," I smiled. To my relief, he smiled back.

"I don't believe we've formally met, my name is Edward Cullen." he said politely. He took his hand out to shake mine. _He wants me to shake his hand?_ I thought. I pulled out my hand .

I shook my hand with his.

Neither of us was prepared for what came next. I felt an electric shock go through my hands. It tingled through my veins, up my arm. The second our hands met, I pulled mine apart.

He seemed appalled, and he looked at his hand in confusion. I took this chance to get to Mrs. White and receive a number. Then I wondered, did he feel it too?

_Maybe, _my subconsciousness said. Hmm, interesting. I got in line on stage to sing.

Many of the songs were horrible, it made me want to gag. One freshman sang "All for One." She needed to know that High School Musical here did _not_ fly.

Jacob sang "Thnks fr th mmrs." I couldn't believe how good he sang the song. Why did it have to be him? Why couldn't Edward audition instead? Then I remembered he didn't go to this school. Damn.

Pretty soon it was my turn. "Number 14?" asked a frail voice. I imagined it was Mrs. White.

I stepped onto the middle of the stage, to the microphone stand. I inhaled a deep breath. I wasn't nervous. I was too much a pro to get stage fright. Instead, I was excited. Being in the center of attention was like an adrenaline rush, a place I enjoyed.

"The song I will be singing is Angels by Within Temptation." I said in a gust. Here it goes. Prepared to be blown away, Briarwood High. I laughed inside my head.

"Sparkling angel, I believe

You were my savior, in my time of need.

Blinded by faith, I couldn't hear

All the whispers, the warnings so clear.

I see the angels,

I'll lead them to your door.

There's no escape now,

No mercy no more.

No remorse cause I still remember,"

At this point I put all of my emotions of belting out the chorus. It needed to be mind blowing. I needed that part of Jasmine. If I ever wanted to get a scholarship, to land a role in the business.

"The smile when you tore me apart.

You took my heart,

Deceived me right from the start.

You showed my dreams,

I wish they'd be turn into real.

You broke a promise, and made me realize.

It was all just a lie.

Sparkling angel, I couldn't see

Your dark intentions, your feelings for me.

Fallen angel, tell me why?

What is the reason, the thorn in your eye?

I see the angels,

I'll lead them to your door.

There's no escape now

No mercy no more

No remorse cause I still remember"

I looked directly at Jacob. His mouth was wide open. I could see drool forming at the corner of his mouth. I would have laughed, but I was too involved into the song.

"The smile when you tore me apart.

You took my heart

Deceived me right from the start.

You showed me dreams,

I wished that they'd turn into real.

You broke a promise and made me realize.

It was all just a lie.

Could have been forever,

Now we have reached the end."

I skipped the end of the song, it wasn't really necessary. Besides, rarely anyone knew this song anyways..

I was interrupted by a collection of loud cheers, claps, and wolf whistles. Was I really that good? Sure I was better than some other newbies up here, but I wasn't perfect.

Everyone stood up, and gave me another round of applause. I smiled. This was going perfectly. I just had to make sure that the next step I took didn't cause me to trip, break my heel, or to have anything happen to my left foot. I thanked them, and left the stage.

I watched the rest of them politely, cringing when it was Jessica turn. Apparently she was sent here by Lauren. I wondered if she remembered Alice's words. _Who ever heard of a blond Jasmine?_ I could bet that her singing voice wasn't spectacular either. So she just decided to send one of her dancer zombies to get embarrassed. What a friend.

By the end of the whole thing, Mrs. White stood up.

"Thank you all for auditioning. Mr. Daniels has told you all the cast list will be posted on Friday. Your singing will be put into consideration. Thank you once again," she finished. She seemed bored. I met eye contact with her for the briefest second. After I looked away, from the corner of my eye, I could swear I saw her smiling.

Then I saw Edward at the door. My heart beat picked up immediately. He smiled at me crookedly. OK, so now I was convinced that my audition didn't go half bad. I hurried to return the smile, not wanting to disappoint him.

After receiving a bazillion "Congratulations!" and "That was amazing's," I managed to get to my dorm.

Alice was already asleep, thank God. I plopped on the bed, not bothering to take my shoes off, and fell asleep in an instant.

**Ok so I know people read it. You just didn't want to review! Just press that little purple button on the lower left hand corner and say something. I don't care if you tell me if it sucks. I need advice for future chapters. You don't even have to sign in. Just review please :( **


	3. Surprise Visitor

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, that belongs to Stephenie Meyer, blah blah blah...**

**Sorry about the short chapter. I had to endure summer school for the better part of my day, and I didn't get a chance to update. But I promise you, the plot's going to get good really soon :)**

**-highonair435**

I slammed the door of my Honda accord and literally ran to my dorm room. There was only one person I wanted to see. One person who could jump with me, celebrate with me, and act as my own personal cheerleader. That girl was named Alice Brandon.

I stumbled on the last few flights of stairs. I could of taken the elevator, but I needed to burn some energy. Besides, I could hardly wait for the elevator doors to open. They took way to long. I would end up breaking the tiles with the times I would have stamped my foot.

By the time I reached the dorm I was completely out of breath. I reached for the handle eagerly, and opened the door. There she was, standing right in front of me, waiting for my arrival. She had a pure hopeful look on her face. I felt myself smile.

"Alice I made it! I got the part of Jasmine!" I squealed. She opened her mouth to speak, but then she decided she didn't want to. Instead, she screamed at the top of her lungs, and jumped up and down. I thought I was excited. I could have sworn she was the one who got the part. Then she took my hands in hers, and I started jumping along with her. After long minutes of experiencing Alice's hyperness, she settled down. I expected her to say something, but instead she whipped out her rhinestone studded phone, and started punching in numbers with as much force as she could muster.

"Alice, any harder and you're gonna break your cell," I complained. She looked up once from the tiny screen and laughed at me as she brought the phone to her ear. As she waited for someone to pick up, she talked to me a little.

"Bella, come on. This phone's not gonna break, it's made by the indestructible stuff in rockets," she told me giddily. Alice? Reasonable phone? Get real.

"I'm surprised you even have a durable phone. You normally buy it because of the price," I told her truthfully. Alice had different phases with phones. First, it was the Nokia. She complained that it was out of style, and then came the age of the iPhone. Then she hated that everyone had that phone, and she said she wanted to be _unique._ She ended up with random European phone that was delivered to our doorstep last week.

"Exactly. It's a 30,000 dollar Vertu," she grinned. My eyes bulged out of my sockets. I felt the scream coming out of my mouth. I held it back, hearing a deep voice that I recognized as Jaspers at the other end of the phone. But it took all I had to not shout in protest.

"Of course you can bring him," I heard her say. "And Rose too. She would hate to be left out. Angie can't. Shes at a concert with Ben. Let me-" she was suddenly interrupted. First surprise colored her face, which then turned into confusion. Then I saw her face turn into the expression I dreaded the most. I called it the 'Run Bella. Alice has something evil planned for you' face. I suddenly forgot all about the 30,000 dollar phone, and concentrated on guessing what her next round of torture was.

"Sure. He might want to look around, see if theres anything he likes," she grinned evilly. Then she looked at my direction. Uh oh. This could _not_ be good.

She hung up, and then plopped her phone into her messenger. She walked back up to me.

"Bella, we're going to P.F. Changs to celebrate!" she gushed. It was hard to doubt the excitement in her gleaming sapphire eyes.

I was confused. "Wait, Alice, don't you need to make a reservation? I mean, that place is packed! And it's all the way in Westchester!" I complained.

She laughed. "Don't worry, Bella, I'll take care of it. For now you need to get ready," she said in a motherly tone. I was about to walk into my half empty closet when Alice interrupted me. Again.

"Ah, ah, ah. My closet. Go." she ordered. I scowled at her, and stomped into her closet. Attached to the mirror door, was a letter. It was hard not being jealous of the italicized handwriting.

_To: Bella From: Alice_

_Bella, The outfit is on the hanging on the right. Don't ask any questions. Love, Alice_

I muttered a collection of curses as I put on the black Calvin shorts and the Cavalli chiffon tunic. Of course the outfit was pretty, that was what bugged me. I wanted to go back to _my_ clothes. I missed them terribly in the past two days. Alice has been treating me like Bella Barbie since the success of the audition. She said I only did great because the outfit she chose boosted my confidence, and that my hair and makeup made me feel like I was pretty. She already knew I had practically no self esteem, so she used it to her advantage. So now Alice has decided to choose my clothes every day, and do my hair and makeup. It's not like I could disagree when she pulled her irresistible puppy dog face on me. Why did she have to be so cute?

I opened the door, and a whole bunch of people had gathered into the room. I recognized Emmett by his gigantic size and dark curls. I also saw Jasper with his crazy blond hairdo holding hands with Alice, who had apparently changed into a purple draped blouse and black leggings. Then Rosalie, in all her beauty, in a breathtaking brown long sleeved v-neck blouse. I felt a pang of unease. I could not compare to all these stunning creatures.

"Bella!" roared a voice. Before I knew it, I was being enveloped in a bone crushing hug. I cried out in pain. Of course I already knew who it was.

Emmett let me go from his arms and grinned at me. I smiled back with as much force as I could muster, my hands rubbing at my sides. Ouch.

"Long time, no see" he said sarcastically. I punched his arm. "Emmett, I saw you a day ago," I reminded him. He just laughed.

Then I walked up to Jasper. He hugged me gently, probably trying to set an example for Emmett to be careful with me. After all, not everyone can handle his infamous bear hug.

"Bella, I'd like you to meet someone," Emmett said. I turned around to see who he was talking about. I felt confused. Then I saw him. I would recognize that piercing green stare anywhere, that mass of bronze hair, that crooked smile.

It was Edward.

"Hey there," he said musically. I smiled at him. He grinned back.

"Hi, Edward." I greeted. There was no way I would let myself embarrassed now. Alright, I had no shoes on, so nothing could mysteriously fly off my foot and land on his head. Thank God.

"Hold up, you _know _each other?" interrupted Rosalie. She had stayed silent this entire time, and now she decided to speak up?

I threw an anxious glance his way. I looked at an excited Alice, and glanced back at him. "Lie," I begged silently. There was no way Emmett, or even worse, Alice would spare me any mercy once they knew I met him after pounding him with a shoe.

"Yeah we met, at the singing audition," he lied. If I would have known better, I would of thought he was saying the truth. There was no hint of deception in his emerald eyes. I exhaled in a gust. Had I been holding my breath?

"Well, everyone, as you might all already know, this is my cousin Edward. He's come all the way from Chicago to stay here at Briarwood. He plays the piano." Emmett said. Edward angled himself in the general direction. He grinned and waved a friendly hello.

"Edward this is Alice and Jasper, my two best friends in the world." Emmett pointed at a curious Jasper and a hyper looking Alice. Jasper was the same as usual, his face cool and collected. His crazy blond hair whipped around his face. Jasper smiled and waved back at Edward. Then he suddenly clutched Alice towards him, his face now slightly surprised.

Alice looked like she a grenade that was about to explode. She was grinning ear to ear. Her blue eyes were big and bright. She was also slightly shaking a little. She unexpectedly broke out of Jasper's arms, tackled herself towards Edward and bombarded him with a hug. Edward stumbled back a little, almost falling to the ground. He hugged Alice a little awkwardly, since he had to bend his legs a bit to reach her back. Alice wouldn't let go. Only when Edward lightly patted her on the head did she release her death hold.

"Hi Edward! Nice to meet you. I know we're going all to be great friends," Alice gushed. She resumed the ritual of hopping up and down. That's why I loved her. Ah Alice.

Edward smiled at her kindly with a confused expression molded on his face. "OK," he answered. It sounded like a question. I almost laughed.

"Now that we're done can we get to P.F. Changs already? I'm starving," moaned Emmett. He looked like an impatient 4 year old who got his candy snatched away. Rosalie also seemed to acknowledge that fact and went to his side. She began rubbing circles on his arm. He sighed.

"Alright, Alright, let's get in the car. Jasper and I can ride in the Porsche, while the rest of us get in Rosalies M3." Alice surrendered. It seemed like she wanted to have more time attacking Edward. Not like she had a choice, with Emmett whining. We all knew what would happen when we got Emmett mad. That was definitely one experience I would _not _like to have again.

I turned back into the closet to get my shoes. On the floor, next to where the outfit had been, were red thong sandals. At least they were reasonable, compared to the other outrageous things Alice made me wear. Next to the shoes, was a yellow handbag. I picked it up, slung it across my shoulder and exited the dorm, following Emmett and Rose.

We walked to the parking lot silently. Alice and Jasper left us as soon as we got outside to get into the Porsche. The rest of us went to Rosalies red convertible. Rosalie took the drivers seat while Emmett went in the passengers. Which left...

"Ladies first?" Edward questioned with a crooked smile plastered on his angelic face. He held out his hand to me, so I could climb over the car without falling.

"S-sure," I stuttered. Then I took his hand. I felt the electric shock again, intensified this time. As he plopped me into the backseat, I felt the electricity hit me wherever his skin touched mine. My back, my knees, my elbow, and a bit across my right arm. He let go as soon as I was safely in the car. I yearned to hold his hand in mine, to feel the shock again. But of course I couldn't do that. Even if I did, what would I say? _Edward, _w_ould you mind holding my hand? See, whenever you touch me I feel electricity, and I kind of like it. _Right. He would think I had major issues.

I sighed. This was going to be one interesting ride.

**Like it? Haha, Edward's always the gentleman. Let's see what drama happens at the restaurant. With a girl like Alice, somethings bound to pop up. **

**So I have a question. What character would you like to see at P.F. Changs? I'm thinking Jake, but he pops up too much in the story. Review, and tell me who you think should show up. **


	4. AUTHORS NOTE

**Authors note:**

**Nope, sorry! This isn't a chapter! But read it anyways!**

**I _did_have the whole entire chapter written, but I didn't save. Big mistake. After my chapter got deleted, I got grounded (frustrating right?) So right now, I'm trying to re-write the chapter and remember all of the stuff I put in there. I _should _have it up in the next three days or so. It all depends on what I'm doing or if I'm in the mood to write. (If I'm not in the mood to write but write anyways... the chapter ends up a little bit crappy)**

**Sorry! Don't hurt me! But I _promise_ I will have ch.4 up soon :)**

**-highonair435**


	5. Celebration

**Sorry for the long update. I was on vacation for a week, and when I came back, I started to read Breaking Dawn. I'm not going to say anything about the book, because I know some of you haven't read it. But I will post a poll soon on my profile for those of you who have read it. By the way, this is my longest chapter yet. Be happy. There's three special people your gonna meet in P.F. Changs :)**

**-highonair435**

Celebration

Once I was settled, I started to look out of the car window. Rosalie refused to lift the top off the car, because she had just gotten her hair done. Typical Rose. She was just like Alice, only at all concerned about what her friends dressed like, as long as she looked pretty.

It was strangely calming to see the blurred images of the city just fly by. I stared at the gray landscape before me and took it all in. This was my home. This was New York. The city where I belonged.

Here is my future. When I grow up, I will be a major star on Broadway, be famous and successful, have a brooding movie star for a husband, have millions of adoring fans, and have a big mansion in the suburbs outside the city, so I could raise my beautiful children to follow in my footsteps. The end. That's what my mom, my dad, and all of my relatives convinced me to believe for as long as I can remember. I believed it myself, of course. I was comfortable here, in the big city. I've never had a problem with falling asleep to the honking of cars, the shuffle of feet, and the cussing impatient drivers that roamed the streets.

But then again, I knew I was lying to myself. Normally, a day like this would be calming, only now it wasn't. I only wanted to make everything seem calming. There was a reason I felt uncomfortable, why my heartbeat was a tad bit faster than usual, and why I just couldn't stop smoothing down my hair, as if the top of the car really _was_ down.

Because I was hyperaware, Edward Cullen was sitting less than a foot away from me.

I could see his head slightly bobbing to the beat of the music coming from his iPod. It was inside the pocket of his beige jacket. I never even looked at what he was wearing; I was always looking at his face. I couldn't hear any noise at all, so the volume should be pretty low. He would be able to hear me if I decided to say something. Not like I could, I was all tongue tied.

He had his hands folded behind his head, inside the jungle of bronze hair, and he was slightly slouched back into the chair. He looked at ease.

All of the sudden he moved his left hand to the pocket of his jacket. He pulled out his iPod nano, toyed around with it for a bit, and then placed it on the middle seat. His hand went back in his hair. I read the title of the song and gasped.

"Claire de Lune?" I asked, surprised. He pulled his hands out of his hair and pressed the pause button of his iPod.

"You know Debussy?" He sounded surprised too.

"Not well. My mom plays the piano. She would always play for me when I was little, before she sent me away here. It's one of my favorites." I explained.

"It's one of my favorites, too." He smiled. All of the sudden he reached for an earphone and held it to me.

"Wanna hear?" he asked. His expression was hopeful.

"Sure," I answered without a thought. If he asked me to jump off the Empire State Building with him, I doubted I would have said no.

I laid my head back and relaxed to the sound of the music. I even began to sing along after a while. It was impossible not to respond to music so soothing and familiar. Edward hummed along too. The song then drifted to a close. I wondered if I should give him back his earphone, but he didn't seem to mind me listening. His eyes were closed anyways, so I decided not to give it back.

The next song began, and we both jumped in surprise. I recognized the beginning guitar strum of Riot from Three Days Grace playing and laughed.

"Debussy to this?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I like Three Days Grace." He said in defense. Then he crossed his arms. I stifled another giggle, and I began to sing along.

"You know, most girls don't even listen to rock. Why don't you sing along to High School Musical songs instead? I bet you could dance along while you're at it. Like every other girl in the universe." He teased.

I gasped. "Please! Anything but Zac Efron!" I pleaded in mock horror. He chuckled.

"What songs do you like then, if you don't listen to Disney?" he questioned. I shrugged.

"I don't know. I listen to a lot of songs, being a dancer and all. I like any music that has good lyrics. Not like Hannah Montana, Ugh! Though I could probably make up good choreography for that too," I mused.

"That's weird. Most girls don't like good music," he pondered.

"You don't know many girls then," I concluded. I felt smug. Maybe he didn't have a girlfriend after all.

"Hmm... I suppose you're right. I went to an all boys school back in Chicago. The only girls there were the cranky cafeteria ladies." He told me. I was surprised at this. I didn't know he went to an all boys school.

"So why did you come here then?" I pressed. Instead of answering me, he looked at Emmett and Rosalie in the front, to see if they were listening carefully. I looked in their direction too. They were holding hands, and having a conversation I couldn't even hear. They didn't look the least bit interested in what we were talking about; they were wrapped in their own personal little bubble. Edward sighed.

"My _real_ parents died a long time ago, before I could even remember them."

"I'm so-" I began, but he cut me off.

"Don't worry about it. Like I said, I don't remember them anyways," he continued, "I got adopted, but I kept my dads last name, Cullen. I went to an orphanage when I was around 3 years old. The people at the orphanage were very cold to most of the children there, including me. They were very uncaring, I absolutely hated it there. My adoptive parents were married very young. They were about 19 when they adopted me. I was 8 years old then. I lived in their home in Chicago, and they got me enrolled in piano lessons. They got me into an all boys school, where they made me study a lot too. It was all going pretty good. I was having an easy time adjusting there. But then," he hesitated.

"Go on," I encouraged him.

"My dad's business went bankrupt. He didn't have enough money to support me, so he wanted to send me back into a foster home. I refused. Instead, I tracked down any relatives, any at all, so I wouldn't have to go back to that place. Besides, I was old enough to make decisions for my own. I eventually found the phone number of my uncle, Carlisle, and asked him if he would mind housing me, just for a couple of months, until I turned 18 and I could make a living for my own. He agreed. So I moved into their house in Jersey." He chuckled.

"Carlisle's' wife, Esme, said she wouldn't allow me to go wander off on the streets as soon as I turned 18 without even a high school diploma. She convinced me to live with them permanently. Then there was the problem with school. Esme refused to send me to a public school, but most private schools in the area didn't accept new students in mid January. When I was staying there the first week, Carlisle caught me playing the piano. He told Esme, and they arranged for me to go here. They already had a good reputation here, with Emmett being an excellent actor and all. So then, here I sit." He grinned at me.

I was completely in shock. "Wow," was all I could say. He didn't seem to mind at all that he just told me his life story. I decided not to make him feel sorry for what he said.

"So you're staying here then," I said cautiously.

"Yup," his lips popped on the 'p'.

"You haven't met anyone or anything either?" I asked again.

"Just Emmett and Rose. I got here on Wednesday. Then I met you guys today." He said.

"Uh oh..." I said in a teasing tone.

"What?" he asked me, not quite getting what I was saying.

"Rose?" I asked. It was a good thing Edward hadn't met anyone yet.

"Yeah, Bella?" she asked. She stopped her conversation with Emmett, and her glorious face was directed towards me.

"I think it's time to tell Edward about the Plastic Trio." I explained to her.

"Oh!" Understanding lit her face up. Then she grinned evilly. It reminded me of one of those Alice makeover grins. I wondered if Rosalie's smile had the same effect on Edward as Alice's had on me.

"Bella, this would me _way_ more fun to talk about with Alice. You know I never mimic her voice right. Besides, he'll find out right now. We're here," she said happily.

I looked out the window again. Time had whirled by. I hadn't even noticed we finished with Edwards playlist, and that his iPod had turned off by itself. I still had his earphone on.

"Alright." I giggled. I took off the earphone and handed it to Edward. He put the iPod away in his jacket. He looked at me with a puzzled expression.

"What's the 'Plastic Trio'?" he asked.

"You'll see. It's better if we talk about it all together." I told him.

I jumped out of the car easily, not needing Edwards help anymore. Jasper and Alice drove in a couple of seconds later in the parking spot across from us. My eyes scanned the parking lot. Great. This place was full. I walked up to Alice as soon as she got out of the Porsche.

"Alice, I told you it was going to be packed. You should have made reservations," I said grumpily. Right on cue, my stomach grumbled.

"Bella, we don't _need_ reservations. I already told you. Look, you'll see when we get inside." She smiled. Then she skipped to Jaspers side and held his hand.

"Yeah, I'll see." I said under my breath.

We walked into the restaurant in pairs. Alice and Jasper were in front holding hands, and Emmett had his arm around Rosalie's waist. That left Edward, and I, side by side. I felt a little uncomfortable, like I was back in the car fiddling with my hair. All that was forgotten though, when I saw the two large horses at the entrance of the restaurant. They were _huge_! They had to have been at least 12 feet or something. Then we passed them and walked into the waiting area.

"Welcome to P.F Changs," the hostess, said. She had short brown hair, and was very tall, about Rosalie's height. I didn't miss that she talked only to Jasper. She raked his body up and down. "Hello my name is Amber. How may I help you?" she said seductively. Jasper snorted, and I almost gagged.

Alice cleared her throat. She looked down to meet her big eyes. "Do you have reservations?" she asked in a rude tone. She obviously thought she was better than Alice, because of her size. Big mistake.

All of the sudden, she reached into her purse for something. She pulled out her cell phone. "What-" she began to ask, but Rosalie put up a hand to stop her. Amber rolled her eyes. Alice reached up to wave her cell phone all over the hostess' face.

"Table for 6, and we would like to have private room, thank you very much." She spat venomously at the hostess. She blinked twice, and her features flickered with surprise.

"Oh I'm so sorry miss! I didn't know we were expecting a Vertu owner!" she squeaked. She gathered six menus up in her hands, and led us all into the main dining area.

It was beautiful. There was a high ceiling, with sphere paper lanterns for lighting. All over the walls were tapestries and paintings of Ancient China. Now I knew why this place was so expensive to eat at. I even spotted replicas of terra cotta warriors. In the middle of the dining room, was a statue of some kind of Chinese Emperor. I felt my mouth hang open.

"Bella? No time for day dreaming!" Emmett boomed with a laugh.

"Oops. Yeah, sorry." I mumbled. I started to blush. I felt so idiotic in here, so small.

The hostess led us to a hallway with doors. She opened one, and brung us inside.

"Here is your dining room and your menus. The waiter should be coming in here shortly. Are you happy with your seating Miss?" she asked Alice.

"Mhmmm," she practically growled. She still hadn't forgiven her for trying to pull a move on Jasper. She had definitely messed with the wrong girl. Amber seemed to realize that too. She fled the room.

"Good job, Alice!" Rosalie smiled. Alice smiled back.

"Reminds me of Leah," she said with a laugh.

"Definitely," I agreed.

We all took our seats. The dining room was huge, we didn't even take up a third of the space there was. I sat next to Alice and Jasper. Emmett and Rosalie sat across from them, and Edward sat across from me. It was awkward, always being fifth wheel. Now, Edward had to be too. I was strangely smug about it. Now I wouldn't be alone.

"Hello, and welcome to P.F. Changs. My name is Mike and I'll be your server tonight," said a blonde boy. He still had to be in high school, he looked young. His blonde hair was styled into orderly spikes. His expression and his facial features reminded me of a Labrador retriever for some reason. He almost made me laugh. Almost.

"Can I start you off with some drinks?" he asked us all.

"I'll have a glass of water," Alice smiled.

"Sprite," Jasper murmured.

"Umm... I'll get the dragon eye oolong tea," Rosalie ordered.

"Coke," Edward said

"Lemonade?" I asked. It sounded like a question.

Emmett was in deep concentration. His brows were pulled together. You could have sworn he was answering one of those million dollar questions on a game show. All of the sudden he smacked both his fists on the table and smiled.

"CHOCOLATE MILK!" he boomed so loud that poor Mike jumped and lost his notepad. Everyone burst into laughter. Sometimes Emmett was funny without trying to be.

"Right then... erm... chocolate milk. I'll be back with your drinks," he said. Then he left the room.

"What?" Emmett ordered. He looked around at everyone in the room. His bottom lip was slightly stuck out in a pout. "I wanna know what happened too!"

Everyone just laughed again. Emmett crossed his arms and sighed. "Rose, you'll tell me, right?" he pouted.

She just smacked his arm playfully. He let it drop.

All of us talked about who made the parts in the musical, who deserved their place, and who didn't. Halfway into the conversation the boys started talking about baseball. I noticed Edward talking animatedly to Jasper and Emmett about a game that was coming up or something. At least Emmett didn't seem to be blocking Edward from the conversation. That was a good sign. That meant he liked him. I remember when we all went out with Jacob as my date, and Emmett completely ignored whatever he said. He did that to all the boys he didn't "approve" of. He was the ideal older brother, though he wasn't really my brother. But he definitely acted like one.

Our drinks came then, and the Labrador waiter handed them out. "What would you like to order?" he asked me, even though I was the one all the way in the corner. How weird, he didn't ask Alice first.

"I'll have Lo Mein with chicken..." I said suspiciously. He smiled and then winked. I saw Edward stiffen from the corner of my eye. Mike mouthed the words "Call me," and brung his right hand to his ear, making a fake phone. What was that?

"I'll have the same," Alice smiled brighter than ever.

"Chengdu spiced lamb," Jasper ordered.

"Pepper Steak," Rosalie said icily. Apparently, she saw what happened.

"Beef ala Sichuan," Edward growled.

"Would you mind getting me an Asian Marinated NY strip, Mike?" Emmett said protectively. "And a refill wouldn't be too bad either." I hadn't realized Emmett had drunk more than ¾ of his milk.

"Alright I'll get back to you all on that." Mike smiled at me one more time and left the room.

"To Bella, for making the part of Jasmine." Alice grinned. She raised her glass.

"To Bella, for letting that stupid blonde bitch eat her own words," Rose said triumphantly.

"To Bella," everyone toasted. I heard a distant voice gasp.

"Edward? Is that you?" a voice said from the hallway. Apparently, the door hadn't been closed. I saw Edward's eyes widen.

"Is that-" Rosalie gasped. Now I was lost.

A beautiful girl stood in the doorway, her face molded into disbelief. She had curly golden hair, high cheekbones, bright grey eyes, and slightly full lips. All in all, a very pretty face. She walked into the room, and pecked Rosalie on the cheek. Rose smiled at her. Then she went to greet Edward.

"Ah, Edward. It's been too long," she sighed. Edward stood up to hug her. I felt a pang of jealousy. Lucky her.

"Tanya," he grinned. "Really, it has been a while, already 3 years. How are you?"

"I'm doing great. I'm here at the University on scholarship, getting a degree. I'm also teaching little kids in the conservatory how to play the violin. I want to play in an orchestra their putting together in the city, and I'm volunteering. But enough of me. Edward, you've grown SO much. What brings you to New York?" she asked quizzically.

I saw Edward's face harden, and this time I knew why. He probably hadn't told her about what happened in Chicago.

"My cousin, Emmett. I'm here studying with him in Briarwood." He said. Technically he wasn't lying. He gave a pleading glance in my direction. I nodded.

"Elizabeth and Edward Sr., how are they doing?" she asked. Edward gulped before answering. This time he looked at Emmett.

"Their doing fine. My dad's working very hard on his company right now," he said flatly. Wow, he wasn't lying about that either. At least he saved himself the explanation.

"Well it's good to hear that you're continuing with piano, Edward. And I see that you've met Rosalie." She sighed. "I have to get back to a dinner party, but we should definitely keep in touch."

She walked to the door and waved goodbye. She closed it behind her.

"How do you know Tanya, Edward?" Rosalie asked.

"She played the violin in an orchestra in a conservatory back in Chicago. I haven't seen her in years," he admitted.

"How do you know her, Rose?" Jasper asked. He was usually the quiet one, but now he seemed to want to be in the conversation.

"I met her in back home in Rochester around a year ago. She's cousins with my best friend, Vera's, boyfriend." She shrugged. "I don't even know her that well. She seemed nice enough when I met her. That's funny how you know her, Edward."

"Mhmmm," he mumbled while drinking his Coke.

"So, Rose..." I said, distracting her. I felt weird, hearing about someone I was jealous of. I decided to change topic...

"Let's tell Edward about the Stripperettes. He should know about them before they attack him on Monday." I grinned. I said it to Rosalie, but that was Alice's cue to rant.

"Ah, the Fearsome threesome. The plastic trio. The stripperettes. The Mallory drones." Alice practically sang.

Emmett rolled his eyes. "There's three of them. Lauren Mallory, Leah Clearwater, and Jessica Stanley. Aka, the school sluts. Mallory's their leader. I swear the other day when I was at Starbucks Jess literally jumped on me." He shook his head. "Ridiculous."

"They WILL try to turn you over to the dark side, Edward. They attacked Eric Yorkie for crying out loud! That boy has his face covered in zits!" Alice complained. This was fun watching her rant.

"I'm sure they'll eat you, cause you're the the new kid and all. Don't let them get to you. We don't need to tell you what they look like. You might tell by the amount of skin they expose. Mind you, we're in the middle of February." She shook his finger at him and sighed. Edward just laughed.

"Lauren tried to steal Bella's part in Aladdin at the dance auditions. They are our sworn enemies," she said darkly.

"Wow, Alice. You sound like it's a war or something. Calm down." Jasper said lightly. He put a hand on her shoulder.

She relaxed instantly. No one knew why, but Jasper seemed to be the only one who could calm Alice down from any level of hyperness. Whatever he did, we were all grateful for it.

"I'll be on the lookout." Edward chuckled.

Mike the Horny Waiter strode in with our food and Emmett's refill of chocolate milk. He looked once at my chest, winked, and strode out.

"What is his _PROBLEM_?" Emmett burst out. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Ugh. I'm so making a complaint on the service here. Who wants their food being served by perverted pigs?" Alice said dimly.

We all stopped conversation then, as we ate our food.

Emmett was the first to be done. He let out a good, loud burp when he finished. Thankfully, he muffled it with a napkin.

"Ew, gross Emmett!" Rosalie complained. The rest of us laughed. This was turning out to be a funny dinner. After that, we all seemed to stop eating. There was just too much food. I was completely full.

Mike strode in again. Edward growled, and Rose hissed. I turned away from him, not wanting to see him at all.

"Would anyone like any dessert?" he asked as he picked up the plates.

Alice beckoned Mike closer to her. She began to whisper in his ear. Mike pulled up again and chuckled. He walked away.

"What, Alice?" I asked suspiciously.

"Nothing..." she trailed off. But it wasn't nothing. Her blue eyes were too bright, her smile to blinding. I guess I would find out soon enough.

We started talking to Edward about teachers and everything. Which ones were nice, and which were harsh. Emmett mentioned the ones that you could get away with falling asleep in, and Rosalie had smacked his arm.

Then all of the sudden, there were six employees at the doorway, holding a massive chocolate cake.

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear-" they paused to hear the name. Alice screamed "BELLA!" at the top of her lungs.

"Happy Birthday to you!" they finished. Everyone clapped, but I was bewildered. It wasn't my birthday. I blew out all of the candles on the massive cake and smiled. Once the workers left, I glared at Alice.

"What did you _do_?" I hissed. "It's not my _BIRTHDAY_!" My voice rose an octave.

"Relax, Bella. I know it's not your birthday, but we needed to celebrate in some way or another. It's not everyday you make the lead." Alice winked.

"Ok, can we stop arguing already? Let's EAT!" Emmett growled. To prove his point, he picked up his spoon and took a hunk out of the massive chocolate cake.

"Emmett, I think you're the only one who's still hungry," Edward teased. He put his hands behind his head and laughed. His moss green eyes twinkled. I couldn't help but stare.

"Let's get a whole bunch of boxes to go," I suggested. The cake really did look appetizing, but I was stuffed. If I ate any more, I would throw up.

"No way, Emmett's going to eat that for days," Rose complained. Emmett just shrugged. I saw fudge oozing out of the corners of his mouth.

"Doesn't matter anyways. Here comes the receipt," Alice squeaked. "I call it!"

"Aw, come on. It's not fair Alice. Let me pay for once. I can't let you throw away a whole load of money for dinner." I complained.

"My gift to you, Bella. It's _your_ dinner anyways." She reminded me. Then she pulled her puppy dogface on me.

That's when she got me. I was a sucker for guilt trips. Her face made me want to cry. Not like I was going to. I can't be marked as emotionally unstable.

Mike sulked in, picked up the receipt and left without saying goodbye. Rosalie probably already made a complaint when the cake came in. Good for him, he deserved it. What was with people in this place? First Amber eying Jasper, and then me. I wasn't coming back here any time soon. So many perverts.

We all got up from our chairs and strode out the door. Besides the people who worked here, the food was good. I felt guilty for not trying more chocolate cake.

Once the cold air hit me from outside, everything became clear in my mind. I remembered the reason I was here. I landed a main role in Aladdin, and this could be my big break. Spectators would be at the show, and talent scouts would be watching my every move. This was my chance to show them I had what it took to be on Broadway, like Mr. Daniels had told me the other day at the audition. I wanted the life I had dreamed of since I first walked into a ballet studio at age three. I wanted it bad.

I would get it, and there would be no distractions in my way to stop me.

I locked eyes with Edward. He smiled, and I smiled back.

Ok, maybe one.

**Ooh. Drama. I got no one telling me to make Tanya show up, I thought it would be a twist. I got some good reviews on music, so starting next chapter I'm going to have the chapter songs. I can't include music in every chapter, though I can try. I'll update as soon as I can, though it will be kind of hard because I'm working on a literature assignment before school starts. No promises though :) Review! **


	6. Special Delivery

**Pretty soon, the plot will really unravel. This is just one of those in between chapters that connects from the beggining to the plot. Hope you like it :) **

**Disclaimer: (God these things are annoying) I don't own anything in the Twilight saga, along with the Jonas Brothers, Gwen Stefani, Carrie Underwood, Starbucks, Prima J, or Apple. **

**-highonair435**

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I widened my legs into a split. I used to feel pain when I tried to do one, but now it was as easy as crossing my arms behind my back. Cake. I lunged down with both hands to reach as far down the middle as I could go. Thats when my hair swirled around all over the place. I picked it up into a sloppy pony with a spare liga and got up. That was enough stretching for a while. Now it was time to learn some choreography.

Mr. Daniels walked in then. I smiled. It was so easy to like him. He gave me a crinkly eyed grin in return. I knew I was a big suck up, but I needed to be on his good side. I needed to be on _everyones_ good side. I yawned as I slipped on my jazz shoes, and rolled up my tights up to my knees. I was a little tired from the weekend. Alice took me on plenty of shopping trips to the Westchester Mall, which just so happened to be exploding with designer pride. It wiped me out just as much as parties did.

"Alright. Listen up," Mr. Daniels ordered. The talking turned into quiet murmuring, and then it disappeared all together. We didn't need another hour long lecture from him. I could skip that, thanks.

"So I have a special surprise for you all today. I know it's not like me to bring partners so early on, but from the results of the winter musical, we can't afford to waste time. Dancing is just one of the three talents that are required to make this play it's best." he urged us to believe.

"The point?" a voice echoed behind me. I heard a barely audible hiss in response.

"The _point_ is, we will be starting to work with partners today. That deserves a warning Ms. Mallory. You know it's three," he jabbed a finger to the back door of the conservatory, "and your _out_." Lauren rolled her eyes at him. That was another reason I couldn't stand her, she was just so rude.

"Come in boys," he ordered. A line of about 15 well toned dancer boys came into the studio. They crossed their arms and bung their heads up. I snorted. This was why I got along with instrumental boys much better. Guy dancers were just so conceited.

"Marshall, Crowley. Cheney, Weber. Marks, Mallory. Uley, Young. Kate, Garrett. Benjamin, Tia. Embry, Clearwater. Becca, Paul." he issued. So it was going to be the typical pairs. I was probably going to end up with that freshman, Taylor Bell. He would always ask me questions about the technique. It got quite annoying sometimes. Didn't he pay attention at all?

So it surprised me a little when Mr. Daniels said, "Black, Swan." This could _not_ be happening. I'd take the little kid any day. His massive figure sauntered towards me, and he winked. I flinched in response.

"Hey, Bellz." he grinned. He sat down Indian style next to me. I saw that his sweat pants were smudged with dirty fingerprints. Another thing I couldn't stand about him, he was barely hygienic. Mr. Daniels continued with pairing. The freshman kid got paired up with Angela's younger sister, Annalisa. Her eyes twinkled in response. At least someone was happy with their partner.

After he was done, he ordered us to get up. He taught us a couple of combos, and set us to perfect them. To add to the atmosphere, he played 'Don't Get it Twisted' by Gwen Stefani through the massive sound system. He wasn't one to repeat much. I practiced them with the girl next to me, Katie Marshall. She wasn't so thrilled with her partner either. We even worked them on each other, until Mr. Daniels assistant, Natasha, set us to work in our original pairs. Jacob was pleased.

I tried to not let his movements annoy me, but when he continued to let his hands linger on my neck, and when he held me tighter than necessary, I blew.

"Just keep your hands to yourself, Jake." I spat. He laughed at me, with a slight hint of hysteria in his voice.

"What, Eddiepuss can't handle a little competition?" he snickered. I glared at him with cold, questioning eyes.

"What? Eddiepuss? Competition?" I asked. What was he talking about?

"Oh, cmon. Don't act like I don't know what your talking about. I saw you at P.F. Changs the other night, and you hung around _all day_. I think _everybody_ noticed," he snorted. I blushed.

"It's not like that.." I murmured so low that he probably couldn't hear my words. He let it drop. After a few more minutes of endless routine, we were finally finished. I could use a cold glass of water, and a break from the pervert next to me. I went to the bathroom, and changed into a pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt under a jacket. I could hardly walk around in just a leotard, it was the middle of February for crying out loud.

I walked into the parking lot and climbed into my car. I jammed the key into the ignition, and drove away into the night sky. The school itself was big, but the streets were small. They needed to be, so the freshman could walk from place to place. They couldn't just use a car. It wasn't much of a drive. I reached the dorms in no time.

There was no one there, Alice and Rosalie were gone doubling. Rose knew how I felt about being 5th wheel. I was eternally grateful to her for that. I wondered what I should do. I needed to work on an English assignment, but I was barely in the mood for that now.

There wasn't much to do but shower. I needed to do that anyways, I felt to icky after practice. When I stepped into the water, I completely unwinded. Jacob, the play, Edward, they were all left behind me. A couple of minutes later, I caught myself singing A Little Bit Longer. I normally didn't like the Jonas Brothers, but what I had heard so far of their new album sounded pretty good.

Three knocks on the door disturbed my calming process. I shut off the water and changed into a pair of navy Juicy sweats. "Coming," I yelled in the general direction of the door. I wrapped my head in a towel and dashed for the entrance.

"Oh!" I gasped when I saw who it was. It was Edward, in all his shining glory. His bronze hair was _really_ messed up today, but that worked for him. I couldn't imagine it any other way. I met his emerald eyes and smiled. I welcomed him in wordlessly.

Once we were inside, he went to the kitchen and dropped off a box on the counter. When he came back, I raised my eyebrows.

"Its something for Rose from Emmett. I don't know what it is, I didn't open it. I'm thinking its food, but I don't really want to know," he explained. Me neither. Once Rose sent me off with one of those mysterious boxes for Emmett, and I found an extremely gooey love letter. It almost made me throw up on the first paragraph. In a way, it was kind of cute, but reading it myself made me a little uncomfortable.

"I think you were right to not open it, I did it once, and I regret it," I said seriously. He laughed once.

"Hmm," was my genius response. It didn't look like he wanted to leave, but there was so many things we could come up with to talk about.

"I need a minute," I admitted. To prove my point, I gestured to the giant towel wrapped around my head. He shrugged.

"I can wait," he told me. Before I could embarrass myself anymore than I already had, I walked into the bathroom. As I blow dried my hair, I thought of things to say. When I finished blow drying it, I began to iron it. Pretty soon I was out of things to do. There was only so much I could do with my hair. I was no Alice.

When I walked out again, he wasn't where I expected him to be.

"Edward?" I asked. My eyes raked the kitchen, but I couldn't find him anywhere.

"Over here," his velvet voice called from the main room. I spotted him leaned back on the sofa, with his hands behind his head. That posture was becoming signature.

I sat down with him and grabbed my laptop from the coffee table. I opened it up.

"So how did the first practice go?" he asked. I looked above from the screen to meet his eyes.

"It went fine, I guess. If you don't count having Jacob Black as a partner." I shrugged. Edward stiffened.

"That kid has serious problems. I was looking around for my dorm, and I saw him with the door wide open. Now I know he was making out with Samantha. Last time I heard, he was with Leah. Those kind of boys make me sick," he said roughly.

"I actually knew he had problems already. Did I mention he talked about you today? He called you _Eddiepuss_," I giggled.

He couldn't help but laugh at that. "Jacobs actually quite scared of me. I barged in on him with Samantha, and threatened to tell Leah. He knew what kind of trouble he would get into with the rest of them, so he got on his knees and begged me to not tell. It was pathetic. I think thats why he's so scared of me now." he mused.

"That explains why he was scared of you at the singing auditions," I concluded.

"Mhmmm." He let it drop.

I tried to open a file on Microsoft Word on Finder, but instead I pressed a track on Garage Band by mistake. Before I had a chance to do anything, one of my own creations started to play. I blushed in deep embarrassment. What had I done?

Edward perked up instantly and listened. I saw his face transform into a mask of confusion, understanding, and finally, a face that at first I didn't recognize. His lively green eyes were alight with curiosity, his lips slightly parted. He brung his head up to my eye level. I pressed the stop button before I could do anything else. His face fell.

"Why did you stop it?" he asked, confused.

"I pressed the wrong file by mistake. I was trying to open an essay for Mr. Mason." I told him. All of the sudden his face turned hopeful.

"Can I hear more?" he questioned. His eyes then did a weird smoldering thing. I opened my mouth like a complete idiot. It had to have been 5 seconds before I finally broke free of his stare. I felt myself blush.

"It's not that good," I admitted. My own songs were just the result of random boredom. I hardly ever worked on them during the weekdays, and rarely on the weekends. I probably hadn't opened this certain track in months.

"If you don't want to show me then that's fine..." he trailed off. I instantly regretted my words. I was actually glad someone wanted to listen.

"Well, it's just that I'm not finished. I don't even have an instrumental in the background," I explained. "Tell me what you think. I haven't heard it over, so I don't know if it's good or not."

"I'll try to be critical." he vowed.

With that, I pressed the play button and hoped for the best. For the first five seconds, nothing played but barely audible static. Then my voice picked up. I felt like I was going to explode. No one had heard my music, I didn't even sing in front of Alice and Rose. I grabbed one of those fluffy turquoise pillows and stuffed my face into it. It didn't ease the red burn that smoldered all over my features.

There's a song that's inside of my soul

It's the one that I've tried to write over and over again

I'm awake in the infinite cold

But you sing to me over and over and over again

So I lay my head back down

And I lift my hands and pray to be only yours

I pray to be only yours

I pressed the stop button then, that was all I had sung so far. I wanted to scream in embarrassment. I hated the way my voice sounded, it sounded a tad annoying. I wanted to yank a chunk of my hair out. Instead of doing anything rash, I just blushed.

I peeked over the top of the screen to see his reaction. His mouth hung open, and he didn't appear to be breathing. He stared at me with big, wide eyes. His arms were gripping the sides of the sofa for support. His knees were slightly buckling. It was that bad wasn't it?

"So... what did you think?" I asked. For once, he was speechless. I already knew the answer. Bad. Horrible. I-felt-like-covering-my-ears terrible. Somebody hand me a bag so I can throw up. Edward wouldn't say anything mean. He would probably find a way to say something gentlemanly and nice, no matter how much it stunk.

"That was... unbelievable." he concluded. His face was a mask of amazement. He hadn't moved an inch since I peered over the top of the screen. This was some kind of joke, right?

"Are you serious?" I verified, to see if my eyes weren't lying to me, or to make sure I wasn't insane.

"Would you like a round of applause?" he teased. I stifled a small giggle.

"Hmmm.." he pondered.

"What?"

"Well, you were saying how you needed an instrumental background... You can probably ask Jasper or Rosalie to help you make it. I think it's a really good song, it has a lot of potential. I could even pitch in a little if you want." he said. When he got near the end, his green eyes glimmered with a hint of hope.

"I'll think about it." I answered. The thought of him helping me made me want to finish the song right now. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't look too eager for his help. I needed to play it slow, because I had no idea how he felt about me.

My cell phone started ringing with Prima J's 'Rockstar' from the coffee table. I leaned sideways to grab my phone. I already knew who it was, the only girl who had this ringtone.

"Yeah, Alice?"

She gasped. "Not even a 'hello'?"

"Hello, Mary Alice Brandon. Better?"

"Much."

"Now what were you going to tell me?" I questioned.

"Me and Rose are coming back now, but were going to stop at Starbucks first. Do you want anything?" she asked.

"Oh! I haven't tried that new Mint Mocha Chip Frappuccino thing yet. It sounds good." I told her. I usually didn't do coffee, but I felt like today I needed an exception.

"Bella, that came out _ages_ ago. But fine, whatever. We'll be there in 5 minutes, kay? Bye!" she responded in a rush. She was sure in a hurry. Before I could even collect my thoughts to say bye, she hung up.

"Alice is on her way?" he verified.

"How did you hear?" I asked curiously.

"Bella. Have you noticed at what noise level Alice blabbers at?" he responded.

"Really? Hmm.. Ive never noticed." I mused.

"Well I'd better go. If Alice and Rose are coming, that means Emmett and Jasper are on their way. Theres a game coming on at around 9:00 between the White Sox and the Diamondbacks. I promised them I would be there," he admitted glumly.

"Oh ok! Thanks for the help on my song, I really appreciate it." I smiled.

"Anytime." He grinned crookedly. It left me breathless.

He got up from the couch and walked up to the door. "Bye!" he waved. I stared after him walk down the hallway and down the staircase like an idiot. A couple of seconds after he left, I got up and closed the door behind him. After that, I sighed and plopped on the couch. I felt my hair fan out from beneath me. I let out a breathless laugh for no apparent reason. Edward was still on my mind.

I rolled up to my side and picked up my laptop. I started to work on the background music for my song. 10 minutes later, all I came up with was a simple 1-2 beat that didn't even go with the beat of my voice. I honestly tried playing the piano with my mouse, but I soon found out that my musical talents were limited. All I could play was the theme to Jaws.

Alice burst in soon after that. I closed down Garage Band and opened up Mr. Masons essay immediately. I didn't want her seeing what I was coming up with just yet.

"Be-lla!" Alice sang. She came up to me and nudged me on the shoulder. I grumbled in response.

"Heres your Frappuccino and a blueberry muffin," she said in her soprano, tinkling voice.

"Thanks, Alice." I smiled at her. I pecked her cheek when I was within reach. From the side of her head, I waved hello to Rose. She was reading something in the package Edward sent from Emmett. Whatever she was looking at made her smile.

I picked up the Frap and muffin from Alices tiny hands. I started to nibble on it a little. The sugary coating tasted good. I moved my middle finger across the mouse pad of my keyboard and clicked open my school mail. There were a couple of new messages and newsletters, but only one caught my eye. I opened it eagerly.

_Dear Isabella Swan,_

_Congratulations on making the part of Jasmine in our spring musical, Aladdin! All of us from the Drama Club hope you are ready to start working. The first practice will be tomorrow from 4:30 PM to 6:00. Attached to this E-mail are the lines from the first scene we will be working on Tuesday afternoon. We expect you to have it memorized. If you wish, you can print this attachment and bring it to practice._

_I hope to see you tomorrow at class!_

_Sincerely, Mrs. Marvill, Head of Department of Drama._

I opened the attachment immediately. I began to read over the lines out loud and memorize them. Rose and Alice complained and left for bed as soon as I sounded to start sounding like Dori in Finding Nemo when she said P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney. I recited them over and over by memory, not even bothering to look at the email anymore. I jumped up and down doing absolutely nothing but repeating myself until 1:00 AM. The Venti Mint Mocha Chip had done its magic. As soon as the sugar wore out, I started to yawn like mad. I had no idea how I did it, but I managed to drag myself to the room. As soon as I got to the foot of my bed, I completely collapsed.

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**Review! :D**


	7. Revenge

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, or Breaking Dawn. Just writing a fanfic. Don't sue me. I don't like being sued. **

**I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Enough said. **

**-highonair435**

**Chapter song: "****Stupid Girls****" by Pink **

I felt a slight nudging on my shoulders.

"Wake up, Bella. We need to get to class," a sweet voice whispered into my ear. The voice reminded me of one of those ladies on a Covergirl commercial. Was it supposed to wake me up? It felt like making me slip back to unconsciousness.

"Bella, its 9:15. Wakey, wakey!" the voice pleaded. My eyes snapped open. 9:15. Oh no. That could only mean...

"ROSE! OH MY GOD, I'M GONNA BE LATE!" I screeched. I jumped out of bed, wobbled around a little, and then plopped back down. Whoa, head rush.

"Sorry, Bella. I honestly tried to wake you. It's not my fault you sleep like a rock," she explained. "Alice picked out your clothes, and I got all your stuff ready. Come on let's go!"

"Thanks Rose."

I got up slowly, letting the blood rush out of my head properly. I practically ran to the bathroom, and turned on the sink water. I splashed water and soap all over my face at top speed. After that, I got my toothbrush and grinded it against my teeth. All the while, my eyes were stinging with the soapy water. I shed tears in response. I shut the water off, and reached blindly for a towel. When I finally found one off the floor, I scraped it all across my face, not even sure if I got it all. I dashed to my closet and threw on the clothes Alice lent me. For once, I didn't even care what it was. When I got out of the closet, Rosalie sucked in a sharp breath.

"Uh, Bella?" she gasped.

"Yeah?"

"You might want to try brushing your hair. And, Er, the bra goes INSIDE the sweater, under the shirt. You also got white stuff all over your face."

"Oh…"

"I'll help you?" she volunteered. It sounded like a question.

"Thanks," I smiled.

Rosalie brung me to the bathroom. I washed my face again, and she brought me a towel. Then she applied foundation, to cover up the random red blotches scattered all across my features.

"Rose, I'm gonna be late," I complained like a 3 year old. She sighed.

"Relax, Bella. One day of being late is not going to show up on you college application. Or in your case, portfolio. Besides, Walsh walks into homeroom 30 minutes after homeroom is over. There's nothing to worry about," she soothed. I closed my eyes and relaxed. She was right.

We rode in Rosalie's car that day. My car was out of gas, and to be honest, I didn't feel like riding in mine anyways. Her convertible woke me up faster than Alice did.

Rosalie walked me to the door of homeroom. She was a year older than Alice and I, so she went to Mr. Gerardi's class.

"See you," she winked. She skipped down the end of the hall, and went up the staircase.

"Bye Rose!" I called out as quietly as I could. Some of the freshman classes started at 9:30, so they would be in the middle of class.

I walked into classroom. Rose was right, as always. Mr. Walsh wasn't anywhere in sight. Kids were on sitting on top of tables, chatting. When people saw me walk in, they cast dirty glances at me. I caught wickedly amused glares from the Blondie Posse. I shoved them aside and took my seat. _They_ sauntered toward my desk in triangular formation. I locked eyes with Angela. She rolled her eyes at me.

"What?" I mouthed from across the room.

"You'll see," she mouthed back. She frowned sadly.

"Bella," Lauren sneered, interrupting my silent conversation.

"What is it Lauren?" I growled.

"Oh, don't act like you don't know. It's all over school right now," she said. She twirled a piece of her tough blond hair. I was surprised it wasn't dripping in hair gel.

"You spread one of those stupid rumors about me again, didn't you? What did I do this time; trash the boys' locker room?" I shot at her.

"No, no, you know I can do better than that, Bella. This time you slept with Edward Cullen." She smiled deviously.

My mouth hung open. Tears were pooling in my eyes. I fought them back viciously. I couldn't allow Lauren to see me cry, she can't know she won. I decided to fight back.

I snorted and rolled my eyes. Snorting was good. My voice couldn't break or falter in a snort.

"Who cares if I slept with him? We all know that doesn't compare with your famous record. Let's count," I shouted loud enough for people to hear. Everyone stopped their conversations and directed their attention towards us.

"Sam, Garrett, Andrew, Drake, Amun, Jacob, Embry, James, Royce, Vlad, Steve, Frank, Laurent, Kevin, Ian, Jared, Nick, and don't think I didn't see Tyler hugging you a bit to tightly in the parking lot yesterday. That's a lot of guys, isn't it? Yet here, you're a straight-up virgin. So why should it matter if I slept with just _one_. Can you explain that to us please?" I waved a hand towards everyone else that was listening.

"L-Liar!" she stuttered. Now it was her turn to cry. She shot frantic glances at Leah and Jess. They had their mouths hanging open in complete shock. Never thought I'd get back at them, did they?

Leah had her mean face on. She was cooking a good comeback. Before she could say anything, however, Carmen Denali spoke up.

"It's true! I saw Lauren with Jacob yesterday! They were talking about it at Starbucks!" she shouted. She looked proud at her little speech. Leah had her mouth hung open, her eyes demanding questions from her "best friend". I smiled in victory.

"Me too! On Saturday, I saw her at Brady's party with Vlad!" Maggie Lyons yelled from across the room. My smile got even wider.

People started shouting sightings, which then transformed into accusations. They completely turned on her. Lauren stood there hyperventilating like an idiot. Pretty soon, she ran out of the room. Leah ran after her like a sick puppy, but Jessica stood her ground. She strayed back into her seat behind me. I heard a couple of deep laughs coming from guys at her dramatic exit.

"And isn't it funny how she starts _every _rumor? I heard Samantha blabber at top speed next to me.

"You know I would never steal Garrett from you, Kate. I love Peter, you know that." Charlotte said. It sounded like she was making up with her friend.

"She's always bitching at everyone. God she's so slutty," Wanda said. "Ian told me that she attacked her once, and when he pushed her away she slapped him!" I felt like purring in satisfaction.

"Bella?" Jessica's voice said from behind me. Not even she could ruin my mood now.

"Yeah, Jess?"

"Bella is that really true, y'know about you and Edward?" she asked me glumly.

"Haven't you noticed that Laurens a rotten liar, Jess? Even as ex best friends, don't you know me better than that? Of course that's not true," I answered.

Jessica's eyes seemed to glitter at my words. She looked… hopeful? She turned away from me before I could see anything else.

Angela walked up to me then. "When you- and the- And then she- oh… Bella, that was _amazing_!" she stuttered in pure awe. Her eyes glazed with unspeakable admiration. "You have _got_ to tell Alice. She's going to FREAK!"

"I didn't even think about I was saying, I'm not even sure if she slept with that many guys. I made it all up from the top of my head. I wasn't THAT good." I mumbled in protest.

"Not that good? Bella, you made her _cry_. I don't think she'll be making fun of _anyone_ for a while. When she went over there, I thought she was going to pummel you again." She grinned. I smiled back.

I heard distant howling coming in the general direction of the hallway. The door of the classroom burst open, and Leah Clearwater marched in.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT, BELLA! THAT'S SO SICK!" Leah screamed in front of me. I covered my ears from the venom in her voice. She placed something on my desk, and smiled wickedly. What was her problem?

Oh no. My head literally whirled around the room. I swayed slightly from side to side, and I grabbed both sides of the table for support. Then I saw what made me so woozy. There were a pair of bloody scissors on my desk. I would have dumped them off my desk, if I weren't so worried about the blood getting on me. The smell of rust and salt made me want to throw up.

"I TOLD YOU SHE DID IT! LOOK! SHE STILL HAS IT ON HER DESK!" Leah screeched. I had no sense at all what was happening; I was too dazed and faint. But I did hear someone sobbing hysterically. Was it... Lauren?

"It was horrible Mr. Walsh. I j-just wantedtocongratulateherand t-then she STABBED ME! SHE STABBED MY H-HAND!" Lauren wailed. She continued to sob.

"Shh. Calm down Ms. Mallory." Mr. Walsh soothed. He supported the hysterical Lauren to my desk.

"Isabella? Is this true?" A voice asked. I was too faint to answer. I just gasped for air.

Then he brung her bloody hand to my face. That was when he pushed me to the limit, and it became too much for me to handle. All I felt were my clammy hands slipping off the desk. I felt the strange sensation of floating. Almost like I were floating in water.

Lauren smiled bitterly at me. Then I knew I was wrong about the floating, I was doing something else. Right on cue, my head thudded against the cold, hard ground. My vision began to become cloudy. At first, it was extremely blurry. Then the seeps of darkness started to engulf me. The scene of the classroom was disappearing too fast, welcoming more and more black.

I succumbed, and the darkness won over.

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**Ooh. What a bitch right? This chapter was a little bit dramatic, I know. I realize I mention her a lot, and it gets a tad annoying. However, this is going to make me stop mentioning her for a lot of the story. Hope you're all happy with that.**

**By the way, I posted a poll up on my profile. You can vote, even if you haven't read breaking dawn. Vote. :)**


	8. Betting

**Yes. I agree. Lauren is a bitch. This chapter you'll hate her even more. I think next chapter will do justice, Bella's not in school here. Enjoy :)**

**-highonair435**

**Chapter song: 'Not Ready to Make Nice' by the Dixie Chicks**

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"Bella? Bella!" an angels frantic voice whispered in my ear, like velvet. I wanted to say something, but I couldn't find my voice. My mind was conscious, but my body still wasn't.

"Can you hear me?" the angel pleaded yet again. I still couldn't say anything, couldn't move. I was being held prisoner in my own mind. YES! IM HERE! I CAN HEAR YOU! I wanted to shout so desperately. I felt like my mind was disconnected from my body, a whole different being.

I tried to move, but my tired limbs wouldn't allow it. I soon regained feeling, and I instantly regretted ever wanting to. I felt blood pounding from the back of my head. It hurt.

"Ow," I moaned. I didn't want to open my eyes, in case I was still in the classroom. I didn't want to see Mr. Walsh, or anyone else right now. I couldn't do it either way. My limbs were aching, I was incapable of moving.

"That's what I thought." His voice, amazingly, sounded like he was suppressing laughter. No, no no no no. That was not who I thought it was. Thinking that way kept me from hyperventilating, and possibly dying right on the spot.

"Bella?" he asked again. All of the sudden I felt a cool cloth on my forehead. It felt good. I tried to lift my left hand to support the fabric, but with a shock, I realized he held it secure with both _HIS_ hands. What was all that talk about _NOT_ trying to hyperventilate?

"She's coming around, Edward." a slightly appealing voice warned. He let go of my hand immediately. I pretended to not notice. I let my hand dangle on the side of the bed naturally.

"Oh," my voice croaked. My throat felt completely dry. I desperately needed some water.

I opened my eyes to a bright, fluorescent light. I blinked a couple of times, letting my eyes adjust. When they did, I looked around me. I cocked my head to my left, and saw Edward. He looked as godly as ever, with his hair all disheveled. His emerald eyes pierced into mine, with a hint of worry bore into them.

"Edward," I sighed. I was too exhausted to do anything else but acknowledge the obvious. He smiled at me, relieved. I felt movement to my right. I cocked my head in the opposite direction.

He was older, maybe in his early or mid thirties. His eyes were a similar green to Edwards, but they didn't hold that magnetic glow. I recognized that even from a first glance. His blond hair was combed back messily. It looked like he brushed his fingers through it a lot. Ironically enough, at that exact moment, he lifted his right hand to run his fingers through the golden locks of his hair. If I hadn't felt so parched, I could have laughed. The mystery man suddenly left the room.

"Edward," I croaked "What happened."

"You fainted in homeroom." His expression was amused.

My mind backtracked a million years behind. I remembered all the details clearly, without all that blood making me woozy. I remembered Leah walking in, with scissors? Once she placed them on my desk, I recalled feeling like Superman trapped in broom closet made of Kryptonite. Then I remembered the set up, and the whore herself.

"Lauren," I hissed. I felt a pang of anger when she had smiled at me in the classroom, the last memory I remembered. Edward rubbed my arm soothingly.

"Bella, it's alright. The whole school knows right now. Besides, there were a room full of witnesses who saw exactly what happened even clearer than you did yourself. I just feel so bad for her..." he trailed off.

"What? Feel bad for her? Do you know what happened at all?" I gasped.

"Let me finish," he insisted. "I just feel bad for her, because everyone hates her right now. Witch or not, no one deserves that amount of malice."

"Theres a reason her last name is _MAL_-lory..." I trailed of suggestively.

"Bella," he scolded. "I'm not saying I'm taking her side or anything, just that I feel bad for her."

I snorted. "Well, I don't. You know, in the tenth grade, we took drama classes together. The teacher made us do trust exercises, and Lauren was my partner. You can imagine what happened. The next day she was supposedly 'covered' in bruises. She blamed me for crushing her with my _MASSIVE_ weight. For the rest of the year, they all called me fatty."

"Oh... well... that's..."

"You don't feel so bad for her now, do you?" I said smugly.

"I'm not feeling so sorry for her now, no." he grinned crookedly.

The blond doctor walked back in. In one hand, he held a stack of papers. In another, a cup full of water. I remembered my thirst, and I longed for the pain to ease.

"I assume you would like some water, Ms. Swan?" he asked me.

"Yes please," my voice cracked. He handed me the cup wordlessly. I drank it all down in a couple of gulps. When I finished, I smiled politely at him

"Thank you, Dr...umm..." I trailed off, not knowing his name. I just settled for Dr, hoping he didn't catch my flub.

"Cullen." he finished. "I'm Edwards uncle." he smiled back at me.

"Oh!" I gasped. I dropped the cup I was holding, and it rolled to the ground. I held out my hand to greet him. He shook it.

"Nice to finally meet you Mr. Cullen," I greeted. I couldn't believe I hadn't met Emmett's parents before. Then again, he never mentioned them at all.

"Please, call me Carlisle." he insisted.

"Carlisle," I grinned at him, my sudden confidence surprising me. I could feel Edwards relief at my side.

"Esme moved from Jersey to Westchester to be closer to Emmett. Carlisle works at the hospital over there now. When you were brung in, the nurse panicked. She was really young, and she didn't know what to do. So she called the hospital at Westchester," he explained.

"Oh. Well that makes sense," I concluded. I didn't even consider the possibility of how Carlisle was here at this moment. I was just grateful he was.

"Well, that's that." Carlisle began "I see no reason why you can't leave now, Bella. Though you can't go back to class. You must refrain from any physical activity and-"

"OH NO! No, no, oh no..." I panicked.

"What is it, Bella?" Edward asked, surprised at my response.

I grabbed two fistfuls of hair and moaned. "The play! They're going to kick me off. No, no _NO_!"

"Calm down, Bella. I will make a personal call to the school to make sure that-"

"No! You don't understand! That's my whole entire future... and... and..." I panicked. Carlisle looked at Edward for help. Edward nodded and spoke.

"Bella, no ones going to kick you off. I was at the singing auditions, remember? If they got you out, they would be stuck with Jessica Stanley for the play."

"Yes." Carlisle encouraged. "You hit your head very hard, Bella. I think they can understand you need rest."

I relaxed. This had all happened in school, anyways. If everyone knew about what happened by now, like Edward had said, then they could hardly kick me off, could they? Everyone would protest. No one was on Laurens side anymore

"I'm sorry for throwing a fit, Carlisle." I apologized. He laughed. It was strangely attractive.

"Bella, I understand. Emmett has told me all about you, and how serious you are about acting as a career. If I was your age, and I had the chance to get a scholarship to medical school, I would fight for it too." Carlisle assured. He seemed to hear me. I breathed in relief.

"You don't need to call the school for me, I'm sure even the staff has heard by now," I smiled. He handed me a slip of paper.

"You do need this slip, though Bella. They need to put that on record. I don't work here in the school clinic." Carlisle reminded me.

"Thank you Carlisle, you know, for everything." I told him gratefully.

I got up from the bed, with Edward supporting me. I got to the door.

"Bye, Bella." He said from across the room. I waved goodbye in response.

We walked out the door and into the parking lot. I headed for the sidewalk, and started to walk to the dorm. How convenient was it that today out of all days I didn't bring a car. Luck wasn't on my side.

"Bella?" Edward called from behind me. I spun around.

"Where are you going? My cars this way," he pointed at the opposite direction of which I went.

"I'm going to the dorms. I didn't bring a car today, so I'm walking."

"Didn't you just hear my uncle back there? He said you can't do any physical activity. I can't let you walk 2 miles to the dorms. So we're going in my car," he smiled. No arguing with him now. I knew I couldn't even make one mile, the way I was feeling now. I sighed and went to his side. We walked.

I saw the sun burst through the clouds. I squinted, letting my eyes adjust. Edward stopped at that same moment at his car. I paused for a moment, seeing the sun play through his bronze hair. I saw the little blond strands fluttering about. He was looking at something above my head, or at head level. I turned around to see what it was. It was a tan little Chevy, all beat up and rusty. I pulled the handle on the passenger door.

"Uh, Bella? Wrong car," Edward teased. I scowled at him. He chuckled.

"Why did you stop then?"

"I saw a bird," he said honestly. Something in his eyes told me he was lying.

"Hmm."

He stopped again at a silver Volvo. I pointed at it to make sure I had gotten the right one. He nodded his head, and laughed quietly. I giggled along with him.

I opened the passenger door and climbed inside. Once we were in, I saw his iPod lying next to a dock beside me. It seemed to be part of the interior.

"I didn't know Volvo's made iPod docks..." I thought out loud. Edward heard me.

"They don't. I got it put in for a little extra cash. It was a little expensive to do, but well worth it. I can't stand burning things on to Cd's." he answered.

"Instead of getting satellite radio, I got a touchscreen computer. The typing works on voice command." he smiled. My eyes bulged.

"Whatever happened to having a GPS?" I protested.

He pressed a button on the side of the steering wheel. A little screen popped up in the middle, on top of the small computer.

"I should have known. That's just a _LITTLE_ expensive..." I trailed off. He smiled.

"I got it from the design of the Vantage." he explained. "I'm not very good at interior designing, so I just copy stuff."

"I bet Emmett will _love_ this car. He'll throw his Jeep in the dumpster for a chance to ride in this. Make sure you cover up that computer. He'll be riding to school everyday in your car, watch out."

"I'll be on my guard," he promised. He put his iPod on the dock. He pressed another button on the steering wheel.

"On. Music. Artists. Breaking Benjamin. Play," he commanded, while looking straight ahead at the road.

"Show off," I muttered. He grinned deviously at me.

I sang along to the 'Diary of Jane.' He looked disappointed.

"What? Is my singing _that_ bad?" I teased.

"No, you sing great. But, it would be nice if I found a song you don't already know."

"Good luck with that." I stuck my tongue out at him like a 5 year old. He grinned crookedly in response.

We went through "So Sick," by Flyleaf, "Last Resort," by Papa Roach, and "Electropop" by Jupiter Rising. He stopped at the end of the first chorus of each song, mad that I knew them all. I grinned at him teasingly the whole entire time. He decided to change the genre to classical.

"I bet my _car_ you don't know this one." he muttered angrily.

"Don't bet something so big. Bet something you'll actually give me."

"Fine. If _I_ win, then you come over our dorm and let me work on your song. _Every night._" he smiled. I flinched.

"Hmph. Well if I win, then I _don't_ go over your place every night. And you give me 10 bucks." I added, suddenly smug that he was such a big spender.

"Deal." he smiled. He seemed certain that I wouldn't know this song. With his attitude, it looked like he was going to win. He worked the iPod manually, not wanting to drop any hints. When the song came on, I gasped.

I had heard it somewhere, but I couldn't exactly pinpoint where. It was familiar. I didn't know the beginning, but when the main chords came around, I knew the name of the song. It was by Yiruma.

"River Flows in You!" I gasped again. Edward looked at me with a disappointed expression. I sang along to less than half of the song, it was all I knew. The song drifted to a close. I looked over to see his face. He seemed to be thinking hard.

"Hmm. Well you knew some of the song, but not a lot of it..." he mused. "How about this? I give you ten bucks, but you come over my dorm every other night on weekdays?"

"Sounds fair," I said smugly. I was still getting my ten bucks.

"We'll start tomorrow night, then. Now get inside. I promised Carlisle I would help you get better." I looked at the window of the car. I couldn't believe we were there already, the ride seemed so short. He seemed to be waiting for me to get out of the car. I stared at him expectantly, waiting for my prize money. He raised his eyebrows at me.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I'm not going over your room if you don't fill your part of the deal first."

"Oh, fine. I hoped you would forget." he huffed. He reached into his pocket for his wallet.

"I don't exactly have the memory span of Dori, you know." I said in protest. He opened his wallet and gave me two fives. I took them smugly.

"Bye, Edward. Thanks for the ride." I smiled.

"Take care," he smiled crookedly at me.

He literally left me breathless. I stumbled out of the car, almost incapable of walking, both fives in hand. I watched the Volvo speed away, becoming a silver dot.

It was then when I went through the elevator, too dizzy to go up the stairs. Once I got to the room, I dragged myself into the shower. I appreciated the chance to wash up and relax. I winced when I massaged the shampoo on the back of my head, it stung. Maybe I really did hit it hard, to the point of bleeding. I felt the stitches Carlisle had put there. I felt another wave of hate towards Lauren. She ruined everything. Now I couldn't get to enjoy my first day of practice. She messed with everyones life, not only mine. I was glad everyone hated her now, she deserved it. I shut off the water, and changed into PJ's. I wrapped a towel around my head, not quite wanting to blow dry it.

Once I was out of the bathroom, I plopped myself on the comforting white couch in the TV area. I grabbed an aqua pillow from the floor and curled up into a sleeping position. I grabbed the remote next to me.

I turned on a mindless sitcom. An hour later, I wasn't even quite sure what I was watching. I couldn't tell if it was Reality TV or a game show. Somewhere after that point, I fell asleep.

**This will be my last chapter in around a week. I need to work on a literature assignment, and hopefully I will get it done soon. School is also starting, so I won't be able to update everyday. The wait won't be as long as it was for the P.F. Changs chapter, I promise. Review! :)**


	9. Unexpected

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, Aladdin, or any of the movies listed in this chapter, if they are real movies. But keep your paws off Bridget Anne Gregory, Ridgeway Entertainment and Devon Bowman... they're mine. :P**

**This ones not going to be a week-long wait. I really liked writing this chapter, because this is the beginning of the original plot I had in mind. I don't think theres ever been a fanfic like this, at least that I've read or heard of. Someone let me know in a review if there is, so I can make sure the plot isn't like theirs. I like keeping it original.**

**This chapter is dedicated to Micheal Phelps, for kicking some serious foreign butt at the 2008 Olympics!**

**(no offense intended if you live in a foreign country)**

**Song: Crazy Dreams by Carrie Underwood**

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I sat in literature class the following day, feeling extremely smug. I tried very hard to keep the smirk off my face, and failed. I grinned ear to ear in extreme pleasure, not caring if anyone was watching. Mr. Mason caught my expression and smiled appreciatively back. He probably thought that I was paying attention to his lecture on the importance of Shakespeare. I had always been a good student, but I think no one ever _enjoys_ lectures on Medieval authors.. do they?

I locked eyes with Alice, and she was smiling too. Her black, spiky hair seemed almost as lively as she was today. Her ocean blue eyes were wide, twinkling with delight. You would think she just won 8 gold medals, like that super freak Olympian, Micheal Phelps. She was the only person that was happier than I was at the moment. Alice looked ready to burst into song, and do a victory dance on top of her desk. It looked like she was seriously having a hard time holding back. I looked away from her eyes, to look at the person who I was craving to see the most. I turned around, and skimmed my eyes along the back rows of the class room. There, sulking impossibly low with her black hoodie up and her head in her hands, was the infamous Lauren Mallory.

Even before I was conscious at the school office, everyone, including the staff and principle, knew what happened. Leah turned her in and explained the entire scheme when she realized Lauren would not win the fight, and that her status was tumbling down.

Apparently, she didn't actually _stab_ her hand. She went to the bathroom, and gave herself a paper cut. Then, she took a blade from the scissors, collected a little bit of blood, and smothered it onto the rest of the blade. She drew up more blood, and worked with it so it would look like she had been stabbed. Carlisle even confirmed the wounds as no more than a tiny cut. A whole entire plot, to get me to faint. Everyone was disgusted with the fact that she even went that far to make me unconscious. And the fact that she even _wanted_ me to faint. She was completely hated now by the students, and shunned upon by teachers.

She lifted her head up to meet my eyes, filled with hate. I shrinked back in fear. I couldn't believe, that even now, her icy blue eyes had the ability to glare. I suddenly felt small again, and I forgot everything that happened. I felt like I was back in sophomore year, when she had complete power over me. Then I felt a couple of snickers around me, which pulled me back to reality. Her brimmed with fresh tears.

This was turning to become one of the happiest days of my life.

I turned my head towards the teacher, and looked at him quizzically. I honestly tried paying attention to Mr. Mason for a while. He could have been explaining the essay, for all I knew. The one that I had only had written three words for; Mr. Masons Essay.

"It explains how he is marred and punished with the pinnacle of malice he had to offer. In the context of the first few paragraphs, you can detect exactly the form of penetration entering the-" he droned in a bored tone.

That was where I completely zoned out. I cupped one hand under my chin, resting my head on my hand. My eyes scanned across the board, looking at notices and dates for papers that were due. My eyes wandered to far corner of the board, where a whole bunch of stuff in different colors was written. What caught my eye wasn't really the writing, but the color of the context. The green was much to dull, boring. It lacked life, and emotion. It was just plain green. It didn't fade into a different hue, and I didn't find a hint of unquestionable life fanning out of the center. It had nothing that held my interest.

I took out my colored pencils, and began to draw. First, I made two twin circles, on the same level but a bit far apart, in pencil. I drew smaller circles on the inside of each of them. I colored the smaller circle in black. My mind did the rest. There was a gleam like... that. It was softer over here, and this is where the gold came in. It was darker here, and it curved in... that direction. It faded out right there, mixing into the other hue. They didn't stick out like that, but they seemed to be as thin as a brush. I worked slowly, carefully. Luckily, Mr. Mason didn't call me even once in class. He was busy blabbing on about God knows what. It wasn't until the bell rang when I finally realized what I drew. Irritated, I crumpled up the paper. I flung my messenger over my shoulder, paper still in hand. On my way out of class, I lobbed the drawing into the trashcan near the door. I took a deep breath, and progressed towards the lockers. I couldn't stand how I was becoming, almost sick. I had a play coming up, with talent scouts and the drama department watching my every move. I couldn't afford distractions, not when things were this close. I was being stupid. I jammed my bag onto the middle shelf of my locker, under the books and over my gym bag, and slammed it shut. I strode over to the cafeteria, everything forgotten.

Jasper caught up to me in the halls, and we walked together in silence. It was comfortable, not at all awkward. This was the way things always were with Jasper. Nice, relaxed. He had this strange aura that revolved around him, I had no idea how to explain it. Like an incredible amount of charisma that drew everyone to him, that made them naturally curious or interested in whatever he did and had to say. I had no idea how he did it, but glad it worked.

Once we walked into the large lunchroom, Jasper waved goodbye and went to sit at the table. I drifted to the Starbucks kiosk, and bought a grande caramel frappichino with extra whipped cream. I needed energy if I was gonna stay awake the next few hours. I didn't exactly have a good nights sleep. I went to the Subway kiosk to buy a sandwich and a bag of chips. Then I went to sit at the table, in between Angela and Emmett. Alice and Rose were running a little bit late from P.E. They could take a while.

"So... Bella. I heard about what happened yesterday between you and a certain skank. Very Impressive." Emmett grinned at me. I felt a pang of happiness at his words, like the sun suddenly burst through the clouds and made everything clear again.

"Now it's, Bella; 1. Lauren; 1473. You have some serious catching up to do, my friend," he teased. I punched his arm playfully. He boomed an ear-deafening laugh that made me wince. His voice was so loud it hurt.

"Was that you, Emmett?" Ben chuckled. He put his tray down next to Angela's, and sat down. Ben was the enthusiastic one of the group, like a male Alice. Only his interest was directed towards comic books, martial arts, eating hamburgers, playing video games, and working out. He was the only guy who danced in our circle of friends. He said he couldn't stand being near other dancer guys, cause all they talked about was outrageous parties, how big their biceps were, their new "sick" cell phones, and how many girls they cheated on in a week. That was practically the anti-Ben figure, especially with the girl thing. He had been dating Angela since early sophomore year. He had no intentions, that I knew of, to cheat any time soon.

"Yeah, it sounded like a bear chocking," Jasper teased. Emmett's face turned into a scowl. It was so childlike, I had to laugh. Emmett was exactly like a 5-year old boy stuck in an 18 year olds body.

"He-ey," Alice sang, with Rosalie trailing behind her. They set their trays on the other side of the table.

"What took you guys so long?" Angie asked.

"Ugh. We had to make up laps for Coach Varner. You know how he gets," Alice rolled her eyes. "Then this one-" she jabbed a finger at Rosalie, "Couldn't find her other shoe. Some idiot stole it and put it in the lost and found."

"And _who_ would that idiot be?" Emmett smirked. He winked at Jasper, and he nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"You! But-" Rosalie gasped. Everyone laughed. After a few minutes of mindless chattering, Alice spoke up.

"Hey, where's Edward? He's supposed to meet Angie for the first time today."

Emmett turned his humongous body towards the general direction of the cafeteria. His eyes scanned the room, until they locked on a spot. He put a hand up in the air and waved.

"EDWARD! BRO!" Emmett boomed in his unusual loud voice. He waved him over our table. I saw him buying a bottle of water at the Fountain. He placed it on his tray, and walked over. His bronze locks were tousled, and he sauntered towards our table. He caught my eye, and winked. My breath caught. I stared at him as he sat next to Alice.

"Sorry for the wait, Jenks wanted to talk to me after art class." he said glumly. "Now I only have 15 minutes left to eat."

"NO!" Emmett gasped in horror. Immediately, he began unwrapping the foil from his burger and started devouring it. That was normally when everyone started eating. You couldn't look at Emmett indulging any kind of food for five straight seconds without having something to eat in front of you. It was torture.

For a couple of minutes it was completely quiet, everyone was eating their food. After we were done, Alice gestured to look behind me. I hadn't noticed everyone else's attention was directed towards the center of the lunchroom. I turned around, naturally curious.

He was dressed in a gray business suit, texting and talking on his bluetooth at the same time. His red hair was neatly combed. He grinned a crinkly-eyed smile at whatever he was concentrating on. I gasped.

"Alice!" I squealed. "Oh my God!"

"I know! I know! I can't believe it either!" she screamed in amazement.

"Who are you talking about?" Jasper asked.

"That guy over there." Alice pointed to the man sitting alone at the table.

Emmett snorted. "Bella, I never knew you were into older men. I mean, way way older men." I ignored his comment. My eyes were fixed on his figure.

"That's not just any old man," Angela said in pure wonder. "Thats... Devon... Bowman."

"English, please." Ben demanded. Rose filled him in.

"That's the director of Maggie's Life, A Day with Steve Jordan, Oceans Song, 12 Seconds till Midnight, Play the Game, Riverbed, Underworld, The Secret Diary of Marie Antoinette, and Hornets Pupil. Aka, the God of Hollywood." Rosalie whispered in a rush.

"What is he doing here?" Edward asked.

"I have no idea. But whatever it is, it has to be big. Bowman doesn't work small, he's strictly Union. All his actors are A-List." I muttered, almost incapable to talk while I was staring at him.

A girl our age, maybe 17 or 18, strode over to meet him. She looked very pale. Her rich, chocolate brown hair was pin straight, her sidebangs swept. She wore a pale blue scarf over a white long sleeved shirt, skinny jeans with a leather belt, and brown gladiators. She wore humongous Chanel sunglasses, that I could detect even from here. She sported a huge brown tote. She set her bag on the floor, and approached Bowman. Devon got up to meet the mystery lady. They shook hands, and smiled at one another. With one hand, she smoothed her sidebangs above her head, and slided her sunglasses on top of them. I stiffened in disbelief. Edward, Jasper, Ben, and Emmett's jaws were wide open, their eyes popping out of their sockets.

"Tha- B- And-" I stuttered. Angie, Rosalie, and Alice screamed.

Alice fanned her face violently. It looked like she was about to faint. Rosalie started to mutter uncomprehendingly. Angie let her mouth hang open. I let out a good, high pitched squeal.

"Oh. my. God. That's Bridget. Freaking. Gregory." I whispered in amazement. I started to hyperventilate.

"Could this day get any better? Lauren, Devon, _and_ Bridget." Alice screeched.

"What should we do? We can't just sit here. That's Bridget Gregory for crying out loud." Ben panicked.

"Oh, yes we can. We're not about to make a fool of ourselves in front of Bridget freaking Gregory _and_ B-God. Lunch is almost over anyway, we should just leave." Alice protested.

"Yeah, just lunch. But remember, it's Wednesday. Todays our day off. People always stay here after lunch." Edward reminded us. I sighed.

"My _idol _is just a few yards away. She's a professional dancer, she sings like an angel, she's an amazing actress, _and_ she writes screenplay. How am I supposed to sit still?" I whined. Angie patted my arm.

"We're going to look like dorks if we just walk up to her. Bella, aren't you gonna become a famous actress when you grow up? Imagine how Devon Bowman is going to look at you. He's gonna think your a crazed fan girl, _not_ A-List material. Is that what you want?" Rosalie said. I sighed in defeat.

"We're bound to find out why they're here sooner or later. This isn't exactly a cafe in Rodeo Drive, if you know what I'm saying." Emmett sighed.

Principal Burns burst in through the cafeteria doors. He was followed by Mrs. White, Mr. Daniels, Mr. Bratcher, Mrs. Marvill, and everyone else from the arts department. All murmuring abruptly ceased. There had to be big news. The only time I ever saw the whole art department together was at the Welcoming Committees picnic, Freshman year. Devon and Bridget got up from their seats, and went to stand by the staff. Mrs. Marvill greeted them with smiles. Then everyones attention was drawn towards Burns.

"Students, I know lunch is over, but before you leave, there is a special announcement that needs to be made." Principal Burns boomed. Mr. Bratcher handed him a microphone, so he wouldn't have to strain his voice. He brought it to his lips.

"Alright, listen up. Our new visitor, Mr. Devon Bowman, works as a director for Ridgeway Entertainment. He is a proud graduate of Brentwood Academy, and is here to share some special news." he finished. With that, he handed the microphone to Devon.

"Hello, students of Brentwood. I'm Devon Bowman, class of '87. You all are probably wondering what I'm doing here, and I'll tell you now.

"7 years ago, Ridgeway Entertainment bought rights to create a remake of the classic Disney film, Aladdin. Mrs. Marvill, whom I have worked with in the past, has informed me that this year, Brentwood is showcasing Aladdin as a school musical. I spoke to Mr. Burns about our plan, and he is willing to turn your play into a movie. During the next couple of days, crew members of the movie will be turning Brentwood into a Moroccan set. Don't be surprised if you see a couple of golf carts on school grounds. As far as I know, this will not be interrupting with your daily schedule. The only people who should be concerned about this are the people who have been cast in Aladdin. For those of you who have a part in the play, there will be a special meeting tonight at 7:30 PM in the auditorium. Ridgeway is glad to be working with fresh, new talent. Thank you all for your cooperation." he finished. He walked out of the lunchroom with Bridget. The rest of the staff flailed behind them. I watched their departure.

The whole cafeteria was dead silent. Everyones face was looking at my direction. I looked around to see what everyone was staring at. Alice.. Emmett.. Rosalie.. _Edward_ were all looking in the same direction. It was then when I realized what they were all staring at.

Me.

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**Aah! That was unexpected, right? Things are going to get pretty complicated from now on. I know theres not much Edward in this chapter, and I'm sorry. But I have to get the plot rolling. Don't worry, plenty of dazzlement is heading your way. I won't keep you hanging, because I'm updating tomorrow. Review! :D**


	10. I'ts a Date?

**Technically, the wait wasn't a week long, because I updated last Saturday night. (Your probably saying "Yeah... Right.") I know, I know, I got your hopes up and promised another chapter on Sunday. But there was a factor that I completely forgot about: School. I had piles and piles of homework to get done, and I didn't get a chance to update. More info about updates at the end of this chapter, because I don't want to keep you from reading. **

**_Song: Lucky by Lucky Twice _**

**_Just the main chorus has to do with this chapter. I'm so lucky lucky... sorry its catchy. Read on! :)_**

I gasped, and finally processed what just happened before my eyes. I locked eyes with everyone in the cafeteria. Some people were glaring, some looked happy for me. Others were hopeful, many were shocked. A few were… disappointed? But everyone was frozen solid. No one moved a milimeter.

Then I locked eyes with _him._ They were bright, glowing emerald green. His eyes were vibrant, pulsating with color. I felt myself being drawn to him involuntarily. He smiled encouraginly at me.

"Watch." He mouthed. I obliged.

Then, he brung his hands together and made a barely audible clap. He repeated the motion again, but very slowly.

"Be-lla. Be-lla." He chanted. I smiled at him.

Alice joined in immediately. Then Ben, and Emmett. Jasper, Rose, and Angela were next. The table next to us clapped, at the same speed. Pretty soon, the whole entire west side of the lunchroom began to chant, joined by the north, the south, and all the people on the other side of the lunchroom, who were barely within view. The chant was slow, but slowly building up…

The chant started to speed. Slowly, but surely, it increased in tempo. I looked all around me, dumbfounded. It gained momentum, and the rhythm got faster.

"Be-lla! Be-lla! Be-lla! Be-lla!" people shouted. I broke my gaze from Edwards hypnotic eyes to look at the cafeteria. The chant broke free.

People whooed, whistled, and cheered. The feeling was ten times worse than I ever imagined. I stared at the floor, blushing deeply. I concentrated on the effect the white tile was having on the fluorescent light placed highly above my head. As the cheer started to die down, I heard a wolf-whistle next to me.

"YOURE HOT! DO YOU WANNA GO OUT?!" a voice boomed next to me.

I rolled my eyes, and slapped Emmett on the arm. He let out an anguished scream. He held his arm, and gasped in pain. He swayed to the side, and made a show by collapsing on the cafeteria floor dramatically. He held his heart, and exhaled slowly. It looked like he was dying. I had spent too much time with him to be embarresed by this. It was practically ritual. His eyes fluttered open, and he winked at me. I raised one eyebrow at him. He regained his casual post on the chair, and mimiked me poorly. He raised both eyebrows and fluttered his eyelids. I giggled.

"Don't you have a girlfriend?"

"You're my friend, and you're a girl. Girl-friend. How about that date? Saturday... 8 ish?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Very mature, Emmett." Before I could process what was happening, I was being held into a bone-crushing hug. I felt the air whoosh out of my lungs.

"Em-" was all I was able to whisper with the bubble of oxygen remaining on the tip of my tounge.

"Emmett, you're gonna kill her!" Rose scolded. She tugged his arm against the hold.

"Right, right." He let go. I welcomed back the chance to breath, and was glad to be away from Emmett's famous, 'Deadly hug of Doom'. Honestly, I didn't know how Rose could deal with something so… enormous.

"Be-lla!" Alice sang, and threw her arms around me. I smiled into her spiky black hair. I inhaled her citrus scent. Sometimes it was so easy being friends with Alice.

"Congrats! Your'e gonna do great!" she shrieked in my ear. I winced at the sound, my ears started ringing.

"Thanks, Alice." I giggled. She released me to look into my eyes. As soon as she let go, the _hugging_ began.

She disappeared from view completely, obsured by the mob of people fighting for my attention.

I lost track of who was hugging me, there were too many people. I wasn't even sure if I _knew_ that many people. They all ranged from freshman to cafeteria workers. I gave a genuine smile to everyone. I still couln't believe this was happening, it was more dream than reality. I only registered a few hugs, enough to know the person by face. One embrace I did detect was a little awkward. Lauren Mallory blabbered at me like we had been best friends since birth.

"Ehmagawd, Bell-uh!" she gushed. "I'm sooo happy for you. Aw-nestly, I knew you were like gonna be famous sooner or later." She gasped, and placed a hand on her chest daintly. I was watching her in disbelief. My eyes bugged out of their sockets."You just HAVE to take me to the set! It'll be soo much fun! We can hang out with B, so we can like all be BFF's! That would be like sooo ah-mazing. Would you really? Aww. You're the swee-tehst. Great! Pick me up at 7:00! Done! Laytah. Heart you!" She strut away, waving at me and smiling deviously. I heard her impossibly high Choos clacking away from 20 yards across the lunchroom.

"What the hell was all that?" I spluttered when I regained my head. Everyone cracked up. Whatever facial expression I was wearing had to be hilarious. Normally, I would be concerned about this. But right now, I simply didn't care. My blood boiled with anger. I felt like I was a volcano that was going to erupt any second.

"I think you just made a date with your new Biffle Lauren tonight." Edward smirked. He brung up his hands to make little quotations at the word, 'BFFL'. I scowled at him.

"That's not funny! Creepy, maybe, but not funny. She didn't let me say anything and went all Massie Block on me! A congratulations could of worked. Or none at all; better for me." I protested. He grinned at me. From the corner of my eye, I saw Alice tugging at Emmett and Ben's shoulders. She whispered something in their ears. They backed away, bringing Angela, Rose, and Jasper with them. Now that the whore was away from me, hopefully a mile away at this point, I could control my wild emotions. I went from fuming to calm in half a second. Edward and I experienced a minute of awkward silence. I was the first to talk.

"Speaking of congratulations…" I trailed off suggestively.

"Sorry, I was a bit absorbed. Would you like a hug?"

"Say the magic wo-ord." I sang.

"Magic words for… what again?" he teased. I scoffed at him.

"Say it!"

"Fine, I give in. Congratulations. Though, I have to admit. For a big Hollywood movie, you think Jasmine would sing outstanding, not like a half-drowned cat. Audiences everywhere are gonna be pretty disappointed...

"So… how about that hug now?" He had his arms outstretched, ready for me. First I felt sadness, then anger. I settled for irritation.

"Oh, that makes me feel great. What a pep talk. No hug for you."

He sighed. "First, at the dorms, you tell me your voice sucks. Then when I lie, and tell you it stinks, your'e mad at me. I don't get you." His teasing smile was gone now, replaced by a mask of seriousness. He frowned at me, looking a bit confused.

"It's called reverse phsycology." I snapped. I broke free of his gaze effortlessly, searching for something to stare at. I saw Ben and Alice talking from a distance. They seemed to be arguring about something. I locked eyes with him again, ignoring them. How did I ever get sidetracked by looking at him? I had no idea.

"How am I supposed to know about that? I don't exactly-"

I felt something shove me from behind, forcing me to lurch forwards. Normally my reflexes were fast, but this caught me completely off guard. The only thing standing in between me and the floor was… Edward. I winced in preparation. Involuntarily, I fell into his arms.

The static I felt before when touching him was gone. Now it was replaced by warmness all over. His arms, his neck, his hands, everywhere. His skin was soft, like velvet. Perfectly smooth. I didn't want to let go. I clutched him closer. That was a bad sign, but I wouldn't think about that now. I just clung to him, inhaling his sweet scent. It wasn't cologne… I wasn't sure what it was. But it smelled good. Luckily, before I could do anything else, he broke free, and I straightened up.

"Good God, that was irritating to watch. I had to do SOMETHING. It was getting ridiculous." Ben growled from behind Edward. It seemed like he had been pushed too.

"Ditto!" piped up Alice's soprano near my ears. I blushed and looked down at the pearly white tile. To my surprise, Edward laughed.

"If she would have stopped talking about reverse phsycology…" he teased. I scowled. He seemed amused by my expression, or by someone next to me. I cocked my head to the side. Alice looked unhappy.

"Uff. Bella! Look at your hair! You'd think after all I did… nevermind. It seems like you don't _care_ if your hair looks frizzy. I swear; any bigger, and it's gonna become an afro." She huffed. I rolled my eyes at him, my parting command. He smiled appreciatively. It didn't look like he was ready to see me go though.

"Come on, Bella. We have a LOT of work to do. Let's get to the dorms so I can get started."

"Sure thing, Alice." I grinned at her. I didn't bother with the whole anti-makeover thing anymore. She always got her way. There was no point in arguring with what she wanted.

"Bye, Bella. See you in a little bit." Edward smiled.

"Bye."

She dragged me out of the lunchroom, into the bright sunlight. I looked back, and saw all the boys waving me goodbye. Including Edward. I waved back, but only at him. He smiled in response. I didn't look away from his figure until he was out of sight.

See him… later? I processed his last words, trying to figure out what he meant, all the way to the dorms.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Perfect!" Alice clapped. "You look amazing! Not even Bridget can top you now!"

I didn't want to give her an honest answer, knowing it would break her happiness. I wouldn't exactly be a good best friend if I wanted to hurt her feelings. I decided to tease her.

"You mean… like… aaaah-mazing, right? Rate me Ahl-ice 1-10. It better be hawwt." I said, mimicking my best Lauren tone. I held my nose, producing an annoying nasal sound. She snickered. She did the same, copying me.

"Ehmagawd Be-llah! 9.8, and that's a given! I double dog heart that. You look ah-dorable girly girl!"

I dropped the hold on my nose and giggled at her. "Girly girl's a bit too much, Alice. I don't think anyones used that word since the early 80s."

"Try 70's. My mom says it." She laughed with me.

"Proving my point."

Her tone was soft now. "Look at the mirror, Bella." She half-whispered. I obliged.

I looked into the full length mirror attatched to the back of the closet door. I gasped.

Her hair was done into loose curls, framing her face beautifully. Her rich, chocolate hair cascaded down her back elegantly. And her face… Her face looked similar to an angels. Bronzer was applied to her cheekbones, giving her a glow. Her lips were a natural shade of pink, but glossed to deliver shine. She looked… beautiful. There was no other way to describe it. My eyes traveled down past her angelic face to her clothes.

She wore a elbow-sleeved, short, forest green dress. It fit her figure perfectly. She looked like she was made to fill in the dress, or the dress had been created to be worn by her. It accented her curves nicely. The brown leather belt was a great accessory. I scanned down even further, looking at the light wash blue jeans and her brown Uggs. I liked Uggs. They were very simple and comfortable. This girl dressed a lot like me. I would expect someone this gorgeous to be modeling for Dior or Chanel. I lifted my head up to look into the goddesses face. She looked slightly awed, as if amazed by something. Slowly, I brung my hand to touch her face. She copied my movement.

My fingertips brushed the cold mirror. I completely forgot it was there. Realization hit me.

That was ME.

"That's…. me?" I whispered, not dispatching my eyes from my reflection.

"Have you ever looked in a mirror, Bella? Seriously. You sound like youv'e never seen the sun before. I put less makeup than ever. And you never believe when I say you look pretty…" she muttered almost to herself at the last bit. I gaped at her.

"Then you should have shoved a mirror to my face! Look at me!"

"Hmm. You get used to it after 3 years. I was scared of you the first two seconds after I met you. You were too pretty. I really did mean it when I said you could model someday."

"Not like Rose though."

"To me, you both are extremely beautiful. But if I had to choose one to model, I would choose Rose. She has great fashion sense, and she walks with confidence. No offense."

"None taken. That's actually a relief."

She didn't answer, just looked at me with her lively eyes. I glanced at my watch, for something to look at. I inhaled sharply.

"Alice, I gotta go. It's almost 7:30!" gasped. I grabbed my brown coat and Louis Vuitton handbag. She stared at me, confused.

"Psh. In what car? Yours?" she scoffed.

"Obviously. Unless you want to drive me. But really, iv'e had a full tank for the last two weeks. Iv'e always ridden with you."

"I'm not taking you, and your'e not going in your ancient Chevey. I talked to Edward, and your'e going together." she drawled in a bored tone. There was the slightest lightening in her ocean blue eyes. I gasped, and almost felt myself smile at her words. I hid my grin before she could catch me though.

"Why? When did you call him?" I said casually, and a bit confused. I tried to contain my excitement. Sounding confused was very good, it added a touch to my act, which I was having a hard time keeping. If Alice knew I liked Edward… I shuddered at the thought.

"It makes sense. He's in the play too. So I told him to pick you up. Didn't you hear me at all at lunch? I mean, before your little incident? So, yeah. Your riding with Edward. That's not a problem, is it?" she pouted. His words in the lunchroom held better meaning now. I looked quizzically at Alice. She cooked this scheme up well. Too well.

"No, I don't mind going with Edward at all. It's just… well… I think Edwards a bit… ummm." I tried to look like I was hesitating, waiting for her response. Alice fell into my trap.

"Oh my God! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! You like him! AAH! You should totally go out! I'll teach you how to flirt with him, and then you'll fall in love, and get engaged, and then when your married and have pretty little bronze haired babies, you can call me to dress them up!" she clapped her hands together excitedly. "It's perfect! If it's a girl, I was thinking of naming her Arabella. You know like, Bella with an Ara. Pretty, right? And then for a boy it should Brandon. The ABCs… get it? And when you have identical girl twins-"

"Woah! Woah woah woah woah woah! Did you just say-" I chocked out the words. "BRONZE HAIRED BABIES?! Iv'e known him for what? 5 days? Alice, are you nuts? He's a nice guy and all but… what the hell? How did you come up with this?"

"WAIT! You DON'T like Edward?" she gasped in shock. She grabbed two fistfuls of hair in her hands and moaned.

"Where did you get that from?" I demanded. She shrinked back, surprised at my response and anger dripping from my voice.

"Well, Emmett could have dropped some hints. And Rose too. And Angela. And Ben. And Jazz. And would you be mad if," she gulped. "If I told you that we all have a secret scheme so you can… y'know…"

"WHAT?!" I exploded. I glared into her terrified blue eyes, mine burning with fresh anger. "Are you insane?!"

She looked up at me, looking completely afraid for the first time. Her eyes darted frantically. I heard a vibrating noise coming from her back pocket. She whipped out her cell phone and turned away from me. Her shoulders were still hunched, her voice low and frantic.

"Yeah? Alright. Umm.. Jazz. Bella found out about.. the Bedward thing. Not a very good time. Gotta go!" With that, she hung up, and turned around to face me. She slid her tiny cell slowly into her back pocket.

"Bedward?" I asked, curiosity burning beneath my furious shaky tone.

"Bella and Edward together." she squeaked, and winced. "Don't hurt me! Emmett came up with the name!" I huffed, and just settled for glaring at her with cold, hard eyes. After a few moments, she spoke up.

"Edward's on his way. He should burst through the doors in 3..2..1."

Right on cue, he creaked the door open slowly. I looked at Alice, completely bewildered.

"Freaky.." I muttered.

"Lucky guess?"

"I'll feel better when I believe that, which I don't."

Edward walked in. He looked as god-like as ever, with his tousled bronze hair and leather jacket. He stopped where he was at, and stared at me, gaping. His eyes widened at the sight of my face. I don't know how long we stayed there staring at each other.

"Go guys! Your'e gonna be late!" Alice hissed. She shoved us out the door forcefully. "Bye Bella! Bye Edward! Good luck!" the last glimpse I caught of her was hopeful. All shrinking fear she had before looked completely erased, like it had never been there. Before I could respond, or see anymore in her expression, she shut the door in my face. Talk about rushed. I turned to face him slowly.

"You look-" he struggled for words. "Nice."

"T-t-thank you." I stammered. I felt the sudden urge to punch myself in the gut for stuttering.

The rest of the walk was quiet. It was a good thing the journey was short, because I couldn't stand anymore awkwardness. I felt like saying something. Anything. But I couldn't find words.

When we got to his Volvo he pulled open the door for me. I smiled at him warmly.

"Thanks."

"No problem. That's kind of what I do."

"I kind of noticed."

He grinned back at me. When he turned on the car, the first thing that played was Claire de Lune. I stared wide eyed at him. He cocked his head to face me and winked.

I didn't worry about conversation the rest of the ride.

**Dun. Dun. Dun. I sure know how to write a cliffie, right? lol. And yes, the language Lauren used? That's from the series of books called 'The Clique.' Just thought I should throw that in there. Anyways, about updates. I'm starting school, so they should be less often. This is a really important school year for me, because i'm taking my entrace exams for high school. That means alot of studying, and less time for writing. :(. Updates can range from a minimum of a chapter a week, maybe on Saturdays or Sundays. If I don't have a whole shitload of work to do, I can probably throw in another chapter. In other words, updates per week are min:1 max: 3. **

**Here's the question. Would you like longer chapters and longer updates, or shorter chapters and shorter updates? Don't PM me, because my email is retarted and won't process anything coming from this site. Don't ask me why. **

**So review! :D (on both the story and updates) **


	11. Taste of Luxury

**I think I'm gonna start every chapter with a dedication now. It's sticking to me for some weird reason. Even though Micheal Phelps most likely DOES NOT read my fanfiction, it felt good to dedicate a chapter to the human shark. (That's my theory. He kind of looks like one, right?) :P**

**For my always supportive reviewers, thank you for bearing with me and my piles of math homework. To make up for the long wait, I threw in the longest chapter I've ever written. I know I was supposed to make it short, but I wasn't going to leave you with nothing :**

**The City is at War – Cobra Starship (My new song obsession. I just had to use this song, it's amazing, and catchy. Ew, I'm blabbering again, aren't I? Read on!)**

We hummed along to the song, the soothing melody. In a way, this was becoming _our_ song. I smiled when I acknowledged the fact. I liked the sound of that. But I didn't like that I liked the sound of that... or did I like that I liked the sound of that thought? I shook my head, trying to knock the confusing question out of my hair. The song played on. I continued to hum, and lay my head against the seat for a few minutes, struggling for something to say. When we were almost there, he spoke.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked over the music. He didn't look at me, his eyes were fixed on the road. But I could tell his attention was directed otherwise.

Oh, Drat. I had to make something up fast. "Umm... I was thinking about what the meeting is all about, actually."

"Hmm. Maybe your getting your script?" he wondered.

"I think so. Or maybe, making sure people fit their characters. Like I might need to get a tan and dye my hair black."

"Hollywood won't do with an albino Arabic princess." he teased.

"Right." I giggled.

The song drifted to a close. The last chords just lingered there, prolonging the silence. It seemed an awkward way to end a conversation.

"So, who are you playing?" I questioned. I would like to think he was playing Aladdin, but I couldn't imagine him like that. Aladdin had black hair, not bronze. He wasn't pale as a ghost either. He would need to get a crown perm too. Those would be difficult shoes for him to fill. Or in this case, a pair of one of those pointy Indian slippers.

He shot a quick glance at me to smile, but then glued his eyes to the road.

"Oh, no. I'm not playing anyone. They assigned me to make the music. Different tracks for different scenes, you know. But now that they have men in designer suits for that, I'm not sure what I'm doing." he admitted, sounding a bit glum at the end. I felt sorry for him, he liked music. Even though this wasn't my problem, I felt my lower lip sink into an involuntary pout.

"I'm sure you'll fit in somewhere in the play."

"I hope so."

We were silent for a few moments. He pulled up at the parking lot of the auditorium. He parked all of the way in the back, because almost everyone had arrived and it was packed. He stopped the car, and got out, slamming the door behind him. I pulled on the handle of the car door, and stepped out. Once he got to my side, he sighed.

"You could have least let me open the door for you."

"I can open the door perfectly fine by myself." I protested.

"But what if I said I _wanted_ to? From now on?"

"Always the gentleman.." I grumbled. He chuckled at me.

"Well?"

"I guess you can if you... want... to." I surrendered. He grinned smugly at me. I tried to look happy for him, but I wasn't too enthusiastic about being treated like the president of the U.S. Whenever I was near him. We walked half of the parking lot in silence. Then he spoke up.

"You know you still haven't filled your side of the bargain." he reminded me. I stared at him weirdly, with no idea what he was talking about. He stared back, waiting for an answer.

"What bargain?" I asked honestly, not quite remembering. I pulled my hair back on the other side of my neck, away from the flow of the arctic wind. He stared at me, confused. Hurt touched his eyes.

"You don't remember? About ou- your song..." he trailed off, looking away from me. He hung his head down, looking deeply interested at the pavement. I still tried to make sense of his words. Then it hit me, my head flooding with memories. Who knew it was only a day ago?

"Oh yeah, the bet! I know! I haven't finished my song. Weren't we going to-"

He finished the sentence for me. "We were going to work on it tonight, I know. So I was thinking, maybe we could start tomorrow?"

"Sure."

"I'm telling you, that song is really good. I've been working on some lyrics for you for the second verse. I think you're gonna like it." he said almost smugly.

"You wrote lyrics?"

"What did you think I was going to do, play the triangle?"

"Ha ha." I said sarcastically. He smirked.

"Definitely going to like it." he muttered under his breath. Then he spoke louder, looking at me again. "You'll see."

"Oh, I'll see." I grinned.

We reached the doors then. Shock flowed through me, paralyzing my joints. The back of my neck felt as cold as ice, and I felt like vomiting on the spot. The feeling was ten times worse than the biggest stage fright. Edward started pulling for the handle, but then hesitated. He watched me locked in place 4 feet away, my hands rigid at my sides. He stared at me, confused.

"Are you all right, Bella? You look a little green."

"Just.. nervous. What if Bridget and Devon don't like me?" I moaned.

"So that's what you're going on about? Bella, everyone likes you. I can't think of a person who doesn't."

"How's the hair?"

"Beautiful, as always." he grinned. He reached his hand out to tuck one curly lock behind my ear. My heartbeat accelerated, and my breathing began to speed. The feeling of stage fright went away, filled in with a new kind of nervousness I always felt when being around him.

"Ok, I think I'm ready."

"3... 2... 1. Happy New Year." he joked sarcastically. I was too nervous to find him funny.

"If you're not opening the door then I am." I growled. To prove my point, I lunged for the handle, forcing his hand out of the way. I pulled down, and pushed it open.

"Oh!" We breathed at the same time.

The room was exactly the same as always, the tan wall carpeting still boring as ever. People were stationed at the front rows of the auditorium, chattering. The murmur of voices slurred from across the room.

"This is... unexpected. I thought they would liven it up a little, make it look like the Taj Mahal."

"Film companies don't like throwing away money, no matter how many billions they have." Edward chuckled. He started to walk down the middle aisle slowly, dramatically. I sauntered along next to him.

At that moment, I thanked the almighty Lord for allowing Alice to let me wear Uggs.

I made sure that my feet were moving in the right ways, not stumbling or falling to the floor. My walk was a little shaky, but all right. I dared to lift my head to make an impression.

That was when I first saw them.

A crowd of tanned beauties, all surrounding the one man I had been killing myself to talk to for the last few hours. I stared at each of the faces, memorizing them. They were all different, but very alike. I couldn't quite pinpoint the similarities. I could only recognize two or three out of the bunch, but not by name. They were only vaguely familiar. The rest of the crowd were all total strangers. I saw another girl come out of nowhere to join the outskirts of the circle at stage left on the staircase. Her sleek, straight black hair was pulled up into a ponytail, her sidebangs were pinned up at the crown of her forehead, keeping out of her face. She looked comely in dark skinny jeans and a red v-neck with a black scarf. I knew her, her name was Claudia Martinez. She was a sophomore at Brentwood, transferred from some school in Cancun a few years back. I only knew her because she was in an acting workshop with me back in December. It was then when I realized what was all alike about them. Her features, their features. I inhaled sharply.

They were all black haired, tanned, and above all, beautiful. They all looked like they could play a certain Arabic princess...

"Oh no!" I wailed. My breathing became erratic, and my heart sunk beneath the stinky sewers. Only God knew how many feet they were below. I didn't know why I did it, I didn't think about what I was doing at the time. I needed a person to lean on, and he was right there. He looked into my eyes, his emerald ones filled with sorrow. He understood.

He wrapped his left arm around my waist, I seemed to be having a hard time keeping straight. If my legs were wobbly before, that was nothing compared to now. They felt like Jello. Jello that was still in liquid form, not yet done. I clung to his shoulder with both hands, feeling completely helpless. I turned my face childishly away from the crowd of people, looking behind me.

Then his warm arms where around me, holding me to him. I clung to him again, feeling him stroke my hair. I hyperventilated into his chest, he was the only one who could sense my fear. It was absolutely ridiculous I needed him like this, like a drug. It was only a few seconds before I regained my head, and I was OK with letting him go. I sighed once more, and pulled away.

"I'm s-so sorry." I stuttered. "I'm sorry I sprung to you like that, I don't know what came over me."

He looked at me, grief touching his eyes. "Bella, you have nothing to be sorry about. This isn't your fault."

"But it is my fault! I should have realized this from the beginning. Gotten a spray tan, dye my hair black. I look nothing like her! And now I won't be on the movie. I was this close," I demonstrated by separating my thumb and index finger by an inch, "to making it. Now I never will. Some random Puerto Rican chonga will become a rich star while I rot away _here_." I ranted. He flinched at the last part of my sentence, like I had hurt him somehow. That emotion in his eyes faded away so fast, I couldn't be sure it was really there to begin with. I regretted my words.

"I'm sure we can work this out. Maybe he won't want any of those girls. He didn't call a re-audition for the role. I'm sure he still wants you." He took my hand in both of his. I jumped at his touch this time. "I want you to walk out there, and show Mr. Derrick Logan what you're all about."

I let that one slide, and just nodded at him. He squeezed my hand, and let it fall.

"I've got to go meet with some music people, but I wish you luck. I'm sure you'll snag the script." he smiled. I fake-smiled weakly back, unable to form words.

I walked through the aisle, turning stage left to meet the mob. I ignored them this time, squeezing in through the tight huddle, keeping my head up. I heard a few hisses and met a few glares as I pushed them away. I hardly cared. I got the part, and they didn't. I tapped a tall, bony senior on the shoulder that was talking to Devon. She spun around, her bouncy, hard locks smacking my face and sticking to my glossed lips. It was a good thing this Bobbi Brown stuff was long-lasting. I brushed her hair away, and placed my hands on my hips, trying to look as intimidating as Lauren when she wanted something. I even tried using her slang for a bit.

"Ex-cuh-use me, Devon needs to talk." I rolled my eyes at her, for extra effect.

"Well I'm in the middle of a conversation. Why don't you wait your turn like the rest of the freshmeat are doing?"

"Because I'm the one who got the role. Not you, not the other girls. I think I need to talk to him _before _the meeting starts. So if you excuse me..." I countered. I pushed her away lightly with my arm. The humongous Louis Vuitton tote did the rest of the work for me. She stumbled, and lost her footing. She hissed, and leaned close to my ear to whisper something before she gave up and went away.

"Bitch." she spat.

"Jealous?" I grinned. She scowled, and stomped away. I watched her retreating figure before Devon cleared his throat.

"And you are?" he asked rudely. His light blue eyes were hardened, like ice. He and everyone else had to be blind with no ears to miss what had just happened. I flinched, this wasn't what I was expecting. He looked so intimidating. I broke eye contact with him, remembering what I was about to say.

"Bella Swan. I got the lead in Aladdin." I smiled hopefully. I lifted my chin up a fraction of an inch to read his expression. His eyes melted and became like the color of a cloudless, depthly sky. He looked at me, his lips twisted up into something between a faint smirk and a small grin. The girls stepped back a foot when they saw his reaction, watching me enviously.

"Ah. They told me about you. Can you believe all these girls claimed they were the same thing? If they hadn't sent me a picture of you beforehand, I probably would have fallen for it. I'm Devon Bowman, nice to finally meet you." His lips formed a full, blown out smile. He pulled out his hand. I stared at it before I recalled I was supposed to shake it. His grip was firm, very business-like.

"It's nice to finally meet you. I'm a huge fan of your work." I was careful to say his work and not him, because I thought that sounded professional. He seemed to have bought it.

"Really? Thank you," he chuckled, but then stopped abruptly. He looked around him to see the girls that circled around him. He sighed, and rolled his eyes. He looked back at me at no time at all, his expression annoyed.

"I really wish they wouldn't be crowding me. It's bad enough in public, now I can't even get a break at work. Here, let me introduce you to a couple of the cast members before we start the meeting."

"Sure thing." I answered a little shakily. It was showing in my hands. My golden bangles clacked together and made noise because of the vibration centered in my wrist.

I stepped down from stage left, following him to the front rows, where a small but intimidating crowd was at. I could see why people shied away from their bubble. There was Bridget Gregory, Steve Lyons, Victoria Cruz, Lilly Newman. Aaron Duke, Kristina Walsh, Peter Bigson, and Alexa Moore. I almost melted on the spot.

All A-list teen stars. They greeted me like I was one of them.

"Everyone, here's our Jasmine. I'll get back to you soon, Bella. So we can catch up." Devon encouraged, before he walked away, picking up a call on his bluetooth. I sat down on a red, velvet seat, not sure what to do next.

"Ah! Finally! I've been waiting to meet you forever! Isabella Swan right?" squealed a jumpy Lilly Newman. She extended her French manicured hand across the top of my seat to shake mine. Once I made contact, I recognized her palm felt like satin. She must have applied hand lotion. I would have to notice little things like this from now on. Maybe I could have one of those conversations with Alice, she could teach me a lot. It would be entertaining to see the reaction she would have if I asked her. My mind eventually wandered back to the present. Lilly smiled at me a bit nervously, and tucked a piece of her sleek, silvery blond hair behind her ear. My heart thumped irregularly in response.

"Yup. But you can call me Bella. No one bothers to call me Isabella anymore, it's too long." I grinned. Alexa straightened up, prepared to speak. Her beachy brown waves rippled as her back straightened, settling on her chest.

"So how long have you been acting?" Alexa asked me, piqued with interest. Her mossy eyes glowed, giving her vivid chocolate hair new life. I wondered if her looks got her famous.

"As long as I can remember... That's a _really_ long time ago." I exaggerated. Everyone laughed except for Victoria and Bridget, they rolled their eyes simultaneously. My heart stopped beating, and picked up again, at double speed.

"But I bet you all've been in the business longer than me." I sighed at no one in particular. I didn't expect to hear who spoke next. At all.

"Nah. Not me. I was planning on being the next Eminem, but that didn't really work out so well." sighed Aaron. He ran a hand through his bronze Zac-styled hair. It was a fad a lot of boys in Hollywood were following nowadays. I knew it well. But his shiny bronze hair had NOTHING on Edward Cullen's.

"Why can't you?" I looked at him curiously, tilting my head a little to the right, looking like a confused dog.

"Hah!" he snorted, "Are you kidding me? I can't rap for my life, hell, I can't talk straight. I'd make shit." he countered, seeming a bit smug at the end. I'd bet anything he enjoyed his salary now.

"This roles a toughie though," murmured Kristen, "I'm supposed to play the backstabbing best friend who goes after Aladdin. Not me _at all_."

"Hold up," I gasped, "That's not in the story."

"You don't expect us to do an actual remake do you? I wouldn't write the stupid cartoon Disney version." Bridget snapped. I jumped back at the venom of her words. She hadn't once talked until now. I was appalled at her first impression. I had taken her to be nicer. Well, not when she rolled her eyes at me. It was obvious she didn't want to talk to the newbie.

"Oh, I didn't know. That's great! Now I won't have to dye my hair and get a spray tan." I laughed, trying to ease the awkward mood. Everyone laughed with me, except for Bridget and Victoria, just like before. My face fell.

"Don't be so sure you got the role. There are a bazillion other wannabe actresses who would do anything to get it, and famous ones who _should_ get the part." Victoria retorted, sweeping her fiery red hair behind her shoulder. She narrowed her hazel grey eyes at me, trying to be intimidating. It was nothing like the down-to-earth interviews I read over and over again in various magazines. Her feline face looked slightly different now that I saw it up close. What was her problem?

"Oh..." I trailed off, not knowing what to say next. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, looking away from her vicious glare.

"So what's the plot Bree?" Steve asked. I completely forgot, Steve and Bridget just finished that new horror movie due in September. His jet black hair was gelled into spikes, his pale, long face slightly flushed and his blue eyes averting hers. He reminded me a little of male stars in the Briteny Spears era for some odd reason I couldn't pinpoint.

"Oh! Okay, Eevee." she giggled at him. A whole different response than the one she had given me. She twirled a thin section of her chocolate hair around her fingertips. Lilly, Alexa, and Kristen snickered at her when she didn't see. Her Chanel glossed lips smacked and opened to speak again.

"So the story starts out when this girl goes to camp in India, where she's gone to every year with her friends. It's a film camp, so the kids there learn how to make Bollywood movies. She's really popular cause her dad runs the place. So then this new kid comes, shy and really quiet, and people make fun of him. And like, they fall in love, so by the end of the story, they make a short film together. They win the yearly award for best video. And that's where this first film leaves off." she explained, looking at Steve straight in the eye and winking flirtatiously at him. He blushed furiously, and Kristen rolled her eyes. He obviously liked her. I wondered if Edward made me blush that often. If I did, I hope no one would ever noticed.

"So in other words, nothing like the original?" I verified.

"Have you been listening?" Bridget lulled, laying on the sarcasm real thick. Victoria snickered, siding with her. I felt anger boiling under my skin. This was so unfair. And I had been so looking forward to having a decent conversation with her. Not anymore.

"Shh.. the meetings starting." Peter whispered. I had completely forgotten he was there, he didn't speak at all. He was probably the most professional out of the bunch, the one that made the most money. I heard a rumor that he just finished his fourth film this year, and it was only February. I watched the light reflect off his reading glasses, and the freckles brushed along his pink cheekbones. His dirty blond hair was perfectly messy. He felt my gaze, and turned to meet my eyes. I hadn't noticed before, one eye was green and another was blue. How interesting. He smiled a little before turning his attention to Devon, who was now speaking center stage.

"So, our first pre-production meeting. Hopefully our last, so we can get this film rolling. Cast and crew, let's welcome the students of Briarwood to our team." He encouraged. People took it as the cue to start clapping. Peter, Lilly, Aaron, Kristen, Steve, and Alexa clapped for me, while Victoria and Bridget kept their arms crossed, eyes locked on Devon's face. Alexa caught them in the act, and scoffed. She mouthed something uncomprehendable to me. I nodded like I understood.

"Right, Right," Devon stopped the applause with a lowerment of his hands, "So anyways, today we're signing contracts, giving out scripts, and hopefully we can get the music in this film unravelled." He went to pick up a stack of yellow manilla envelopes from stage right, and carried them under his arm. He stood in the middle of the auditorium aisle, addressing everyone.

"You all know what to do. Let's get started." Devon smiled at the rest of the crew. I stared at him, not knowing what to do. They got to work on God knows what, they probably had a pre-PRE production meeting. Instead of going away, Devon turned to face us, and walked to my seat.

"Now, Bella. I know we haven't had much time to talk about this, but we have a deadline. The rest of the cast is already on contract. We need you to sign. Are you sure you want to do this film?" Devon said slowly, talking to me like I was some non-functional 4 year old. I wanted to scoff at him, but I was too focused on steadying my breath in his presence.

"Hmmm..." I deliberated. Five _friendly_ eyes questioned my sanity.

"Alright. I'll do it. But one question, do I need to change my physical appearance at all for this film?" I asked, stunned that he hadn't told me anything yet. Devon smiled, relieved of whatever was on his mind.

"We won't need you to dye your hair, you'll do with a wig. As for your skin tone, the people at makeup can take care of that," he grinned. He placed a simple, white paper with black font in front of me. This was supposed to be a contract? I was expecting to sign something that looked a tad like the Declaration of Independence. Whenever I thought of contracts, I always envisioned big, old, fancy historical documents. _We the People_... I laughed internally. He handed me a pen, not a goose feather dipped in ink.

I pretended to examine the contract for a while. I flipped through the papers mindlessly. But I knew my wise, carefully practiced act was up. Surely everyone could hear my heart thumping in my chest almost painfully, my breathing erratic. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, charging me on this hard, long day.

Then _he_ was there, walking behind Devon, speaking to some people in a circle. They looked like they were asking him some questions, but he didn't seem to care. I met his emerald stare, and almost dropped the pen. His lips twisted up into my favorite crooked smile, and he winked.

"Do it," he mouthed. It was all the encouragement I needed. I nodded at him, almost forgetting the contract for the moment. Almost.

"Done, done, and done." I muttered before I signed the bottom of the paper with my fancy, loopy, star worthy signature which took me months to perfect. I slid the paper over to him, covering all of the small space the foldable desk allowed with moving my index finger a fraction of an inch. If possible, Devon smiled even wider.

"Welcome to the team." he grinned.

**Yay! No slutty chonga on scholarship can take her place now.. hehe. I was tempted to throw in a short A/N when Edward said something that related to Twilight, but I didn't. As a reader, they irritate me deeply. Either you caught it or you didn't :**

**Review!**


	12. Binded by Ink

**Disclaimer: (annoyingness) I don't own Alex Rivers, that belongs to the genius Jodi Picoult. Just pretend in my fanfic Cassie and Alex are still together and Alex never beat her (that is if you read Picture Perfect. If you haven't, then forget what I just said.)**

**Sorry about the long update. 1, I was grounded for a bit and 2... I discovered the Percy Jackson series. Enough said :)**

**Song: Hello by Evanescence (this song really doesn't have anything to do with this chapter. It has to do with Edwards situation right now. This song can relate to Twilight too P)**

Right when I thought his all of his attention was directed towards me, a familiar shape tapped on his holy, finely clothed shoulder.

"Sup man?" he grinned in his annoying, low voice. Devon turned around, giving him a brother-brother hug. I stared at him, taken off guard.

"Jacob?" I choked, forgetting all about the binding contract I just signed, along with Bridget and Victoria being total bitches. I looked into his dark, black eyes, a million questions overflowing mine. I felt my forehead crease, making my eyebrows furrow.

"Hey Bells," he grinned, too at ease to be sarcastic. Maybe he was good today? Then he winked, and I immediately regretted my thought. It didn't bring me the comfort that filtered through my lungs when Edward did just now. Instead, I felt like kicking him where the sun don't shine. Preferably wearing one of Alice's five inch pointed-toed stilettos.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded. My teeth grinded, blocking out background noise for a fraction of a second. He just shrugged. Then Devon spoke for him.

"I thought Jacob here told you, he said you were friends..." he said to me, eyebrows high in surprise. Instead I narrowed my eyes at Jake some more, making him look away from my intense glare. I stomped my foot for extra dramatic effect.

"Did you seriously just stomp your foot? I thought girls only did that on TV." he smirked at me. I growled.

"Can it, Jake, and tell me what's going on." I barked.

"I thought you would know... well then. Bella, Mr. Black is playing Aladdin." he said cheerfully. He smiled at me so hugely, he seemed to be saying, _Well, isn't that just perfect_? He was dead wrong.

I held on to the edges of the seat for support. My mouth was moving, but it formed no words. I heard the air drag through my lips, my chest heaving. I wanted to drop dead right there.

"No no no no no no no..." I let out a humorless, dead chuckle. I sounded dead. I must of looked it too.

"Isn't it great Bells? We don't even have to pretend." Jacob let out a loud, raucous laugh, throwing his head back wildly. I hated when he acted cheesy sarcastic like that. I wanted to _throw_ a shoe at his head, or _throw_ up. I hated when he called me Bells, Bella, Isabella, or anything that resembled my name. It sounded truly annoying when it came out of his mouth. I wanted to scream.

"Is he on contract too?" I whispered painfully, as I waited for the final blow. I already knew the answer.

"Of course. He makes the Aladdin," Devon said, all business-like again. I wanted to cry. I felt the tears pulling up now. I just nodded at him, to depressed to speak. I got up from the otherwise comfortable red velvet seat. I had do admit, I would have enjoyed it if it wasn't for the fact that I was clutching to it for dear life.

_Get me out of here_, I thought. I'd even crawl. Or roll.

With one last smile at me, Devon placed the yellow manila envelope on my lap wordlessly, sensing my distress. He walked away, already hooked on his blue tooth, pager, and texting on his Blackberry at the same time.

"Weirdo," coughed Victoria. I heard a hiss from behind, defending me. I turned to see who was brave enough to help the Hollywood nobody. It was Alexa.

"I think I have to go meet with some people..." I murmured, and stood up to wobble away. I heard a few snickers before I was out of earshot. I had only gotten a safe distance away from the rest of them when an arm caught me.

"What's going on Bella?" Alexa inquired. Her green eyes demanded my attention. I gulped.

"I'll tell you later," I whispered so softly, I didn't think she heard. I couldn't even hear myself through the rapid beating of my heart. She seemed to have caught the message, though.

"By the way, you left your script," she reminded me. I smiled.

"Thanks. I don't know what would of happened if you didn't remember," I grinned appreciatively. My hands met the rough material of the large yellow envelope as she handed it to me. She nodded, and walked back to her seat.

I looked around me, mind blank. I had used that talking excuse just to get away from Jacob. But now I had no idea where to go. How idiotic I must be looking, with no one to talk to, not even a person at my side. I sat on the nearest chair, around the fourth row up, well away from the intimidating posse of actors.

A hand tapped me on the shoulder. I looked behind me to meet a pair of silver interested eyes. The man had brown hair, mixed with gold streaks you could only catch in the light. His chin and hard jaw line was covered in stubble. I recognized the face immediately, and started breathing at a rapid rate. I wanted to die.

"Hello, I'm Alex Rivers." the man said politely. "I work on soundtrack."

"Ohhimynamesisabellaswan," I said so fast the words blended together, "but you can call me Bella." He chuckled at me, but he looked like he was waiting for something. I extended my hand robotically, and he shook it. Alex Rivers shook my hand._ ALEX RIVERS SHOOK MY HAND FOR A WHOLE 2.4 __SECONDS_. I felt a scream bubbling at the tip of my tongue.

Devon Bowman was absolutely nothing compared to Alex Rivers. It was like comparing a mortal to a God. Being in his presence felt like watching Elvis Presley rise from the dead. Unbelievable, surreal, however you wanted to put it. Sure Devon was a director, but he wasn't beyond being the TOP A-List actor in America, and most likely the world. Devon wasn't the head of his own filming company. He wasn't the top producer in the music industry. Or have every magazine known to man with his face on the cover for at least three issues... yearly. Devon didn't exactly have the whole female population squealing at the slightest mention of his name either. I never understood how Alex ever married a smart, studious anthropologist. Shouldn't he be arm in arm with Hollywood's leading lady?

"S-Soundtrack?" I stuttered.

"Yes. That's what I wanted to get at actually," he grinned, displaying two perfect rows of snow white teeth. My jaw fell open, and I slightly swayed to the side. I stuttered in a struggle to make words before I finally forced myself to shut the hell up and listen.

"We need to get the actual soundtrack out of the way before we film. It's a musical, after all. We wouldn't have you lip-sync to nothing. I think it would be more... _convenient_ to already know the songs by heart so we get that out of the way and leave time for filming. Are you fine with that?"

"Okay!" I squeaked.

He said something else, but I couldn't decipher it. I just stared at the twin nickels people called his eyes.

"Is that alright?" He said cautiously.

"Sure!" I blurted out instantly, though I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about whatsoever.

"So I'll give the score sheet to one of the Briarwood students. I'll get you acquainted to the young man who's assisting me tomorrow, since I won't be there."

"Wha..?"

He looked away from my eyes, ignoring my confusion. He waved someone over from behind my head. He smiled as someone facing my back inched closer. I didn't bother to turn around, to waste the time I had to look at Alex. That is, until I saw who the person was when they rounded around me to meet my face.

"Edward?" I gasped.

"Hello, stranger." He grinned. I felt the smile I fought to keep away slowly creep along the edges of my lips.

"Bella, you know Mr. Cullen?" Alex said slowly, accentuating each word. Now it was his turn to act confused.

"My best friends cousin," I explained. I didn't move my eyes away from Edward's gaze. His impish grin pulled up a bit at the right end, transforming into the crooked smile I loved. I instantly felt giddy and hyper; I couldn't help but giggle a little. With one little meaningless nod at me, he turned his attention towards Alex.

"Well then," he continued, "It seems like you won't have to endure one of those wretched introductions after all. Let's get straight to the point.

Edward, Miss Swan and I were just talking about the soundtrack. Would you mind accompanying me tomorrow morning to help?"

"Sure thing, Rivers." He nodded robotically. I noticed his breath was a bit unsteady, eyes a little unsure. To Edward, it seemed like he wasn't nervous about meeting the celebrity Alex Rivers, but he was worried that he wasn't capable to carry out the job bestowed upon him. Like he was afraid to fail him. Why did that make me... was the right word _sad_?

"Here.." Alex rummaged in his pocket, searching for something. He pulled out a small white rectangular paper with a design logo on the front and information below. It took me a second to realize it was a business card.

"Here you go, Bella. You might need this if you want to get in. Though I will notify the guard of your arrival, I cannot make any guarantees that he'll let you in." He warned. He handed it to me, and I stuffed it in the back of my jeans. I was surprised with such worn off wash, the pocket didn't break in the effort. Not that I was complaining.

"I expect to see both of you bright and early tomorrow morning, eight o' clock sharp. If your not..." he threatened darkly. I flinched at the turn his cheery tone had taken. I vowed to myself I'd be there at 7:30.

"Not a problem, Rivers. I'm taking Bella anyways." Edward assured.

"You are?" I looked at him with a teasing smile.

"When am I ever going to start opening the door for you?" He replied, smiling too. His gaze held mine until Alex cleared his throat.

"So that's settled. Bella would you mind coming over here please?" Alex urged. I looked back at Edward, wanting to drag him along too. But he seemed a little uncomfortable.

"I'll just... uhm... go." he said. His eyebrows furrowed, leaving room for his forehead to crease. He sulked away to meet some other overexcited crew member while I stared at his godly retreating figure.

"So this is our little star!" a reedy, annoying voice practically screamed behind me. I grinded my teeth together at the noise, and braced myself to meet yet _another_ person. Anymore and I would start to forget which face belonged to which name. I turned around slowly.

She had her auburn hair picked up into a bun, and a crown of French bangs let free to scatter. Her face was powdered with a bit too much makeup, her matte red lips curved into a smile. She had wrinkles near her eyes, and skin folded around the edges of her mouth. She wore one of those frameless, squared glasses. Which led to the black roots. She was up for a hair appointment. There was no doubt that Sarah Palin was her style icon.

"Oh look, Alex! She's so _cute_! That picture didn't do her justice. But that's great for the image, I'm thinking of going a little good girl. She doesn't look like the type that would pull off a Spears. Then yet, you never know. Britany looked like a good girl, and look what happened." the Palin twin tsked. I didn't snicker because 1, I didn't want to see her reaction and 2, I didn't want her to continue this everlasting "image" conversation. Instead of laughing at her, I kept my lips pressed into a firm line and waited for her to finish blabbering. It worked.

"So sorry! I haven't had the chance to introduce myself officially. You must be so confused, poor child. I'm Elizabeth Dowling, your new manager and secretary!" She squealed so eccentrically that I couldn't help but thinking she won the lottery.

"Manager?" I half growled. I was liking her less and less by the second. Not because I had anything against Sarah Palin, but because she talked to me like I was the most adorable little puppy in the universe. I could have sworn she was fighting back the urge to pinch my cheeks.

"Elisa will be handling your affairs from now on, so you won't have so much on your hands." Alex said. He struck me with his silver eyes again. I couldn't help myself this time. He was so much more handsome in person. No wonder girls chased him. I was interrupted in mid-stare with a laugh that resembled screaming.

"Yes yes. I've worked with quite a few people. Stella Gomez, Emily Cyprus, Haley Swank, and the Rosen twins. Big stars right there." she huffed proudly. Jeez... they _were_ big stars. Did she work for them before they made the big time?

"Ah, I see. I'm sure it'll be a great pleasure working with you," I smiled. She laughed.

"I can say the same."

**Again, sorry for the short chapter. I have this thing going on where I make dialogue cliffies. It's irritating me. So are these chapters with little Edward in them. Gah. But this is the last one, I promise. Next is Edward, Bella, and Alex in the recording studio. I hope I'm not boring you now. **

**Review! :D**


	13. Perfection

**Finally! I got a chance to upload the chapter. This chapter is dedicated to Jessie Lynn, a girl I know, and that I just recently found out she was reading my fanfic. I hope you like it. (It's 6,237 words. Longest chapter yet.)**

**Just to get this out of my system before you go on reading the chapter, I would just like to tell the people who didn't like Twilight in the movies to stop ruining everyones good mood. Twilight was amazing. Now stop raining on my happy parade. Nothing you do will stop me from seeing it for the sixth time in the movie theater. ;)**

**Song: Butterfly by Rajaton (This song is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. Look for the link to the youtube video on my profile.)**

I woke up earlier than usual, thanks to the nerves. When I glanced over at the clock on the nightstand, I sighed in relief. It was only 6:15. _Alice_ wouldn't even be awake at this time. I pulled the covers closer, and tried to steady my breathing.

When I was positively sure I was awake, I went ahead and took a shower. That really woke me up. The water really let me think.

The fact that I was signed on to a movie. It was so exciting, a weird high. It didn't seem real to me. I didn't want it to hit me hard later, when it was time to face the rest of Hollywood. So many stars faded out that way. They went out living their own, regular lives. Away from the press. Was I ready to let my private life go? To unveil my entire past to America? That was sure to get leaked, no doubt. I had seen the dirt the press greedily shoveled out during the national elections back in November, I never wanted to see that kind of mania again. Too much to handle.

I wasn't sure. I could only let time pass, to see what would happen. Hopefully at the end of all this hype my head would clear and I would really make the right decisions.

At that second, I heard my cell phone alarm ring from the sink counter. The song was set to Three Days Grace, screaming a reminder.

Edward.

I couldn't ignore him anymore, that was for sure. Entailing the events of last night, I discovered that I really DID like him. And I wasn't sure what to do about that. Was I ready for a relationship? At this point in time, where I was possibly the most unsteady and confused I have been in my entire life, could I handle that? I had seen so many relationships, if not almost every relationship, torn apart by fame. I didn't want that to happen.

I wish time would stop, everything would just be put on hold for a second, so I could clear my head.

Unfortunately, it didn't work that way. I was still dazed, and I felt like fog was trapped in my brain, not allowing me to think straight. There was only one thing I could do at this point. Just let time go on, time will tell… so many sayings that made me tick.

Aggravated, I shut off the shower. It wasn't helping me think anymore, just wasting my time at this point. I let my hair free from it's messy bun I molded, to keep away from the water of the shower, and combed through it with my brush. It was less frizzy than usual. Maybe I could let it be free.

I brushed my teeth in a hurry, and put on another set of clothes from Alice's outfit rack. Skinny jeans with the brown Uggs I wore yesterday, and a mustard yellow V-neck under a red juicy sweater. A brown Coach as an accessory. Simple enough.

I went to the fridge and had some orange juice with bread and butter. Safe singing foods, they wouldn't get caught in my throat. I also scourged the pantry for snacks. I grabbed some Quaker bars and stuffed them in my purse. Who knew how long I was going to be there?

After I finished with everything, I plopped on the couch and exhaled. I dug for my cell in the purse and flipped it open. I called Emmett, since I didn't have Edwards number. On the third ring, someone picked up.

"Hello?" Emmett answered a little groggily.

"Emmett? It's Bella. Did Edward leave yet?"

"Huh? Uhhh….," he yawned. "Mmmm, I don't know. Try calling him."

God, he was slow. "I kind of don't have his number, Em. That's why I called you."

"Huh. That's weird. I guess our plan didn't get anywhere after all…." He drifted. My blood boiled.

"Emmett!" I shouted into the phone as loudly as I could without waking up Alice and Rose, "WAKE UP!"

I heard the phone fall to the floor, and the sharp impact it made. I heard the muffle of Emmett's large hand as he picked it up.

"I'm up I'm up!" he wailed. "What? What is it?"

"I need Edward's number, since you're too lazy to go find him."

"Okay, fine, just chill a second. It's 555…92…78," he grumbled. "Happy?"

"Ahuh. Well, bye Em, and sorry about waking you up," I apologized. _But it was necessary_, I left out.

"Call Jazz next time," he barked, "I need to sleep." He hung up. I whipped out the Sidekick's screen.

I dialed the number, and lay my head against a pillow. I didn't have to wait very long. He picked up on the first ring.

"Hello?" His velvety voice answered curiously.

"Hey, Edward. What time are you picking me up?" I asked.

"Hi, Bella. I didn't recognize the number. Actually, I just left now. Sorry about not calling you, but I wasn't sure you were awake. Are you ready?"

"I've been ready," I yawned into the phone. I heard the accelerator in the background.

"Okay, I'm almost there. I bought some breakfast too."

"You didn't have to do that. I just ate. Save that for yourself."

"I had a feeling you would say that. Which is why I brung a cinnamon bun."

I gasped. "Cinnamon bun?"

"Yup. And since you just ate, you can't have any…"

"But you never said you had a cinnamon bun!" I whined. He laughed.

"I'll save a small bit for you, no worries." I relaxed a little. Then again, I felt bad. It was his only food. I would need to remind myself to eat _very_ little. Possibly just one bite. Or two.

I heard a car circle the front doors of the building out the window.

"Are you here?" I asked just in case it wasn't his car I just heard.

"Just got here now. Meet me up front."

"Kay, bye!" I hung up. I stared at the phone for a second, and stuffed it in the bag. I picked up everything and flew out the door. Suddenly just my feet couldn't get me down the stairs fast enough. My heart was already out the door, and in Edward's Volvo. The rest of my body just needed to catch up. I eventually got outside, though. I gasped when I saw him. He was leaning against the passenger car door, with a huge smirk on his face. I narrowed my eyes at him as I approached closer.

"Why are you blocking the door?"

"I said I would open it from now on, remember?" he grinned. My eye twitched.

"Fine," I huffed. Impossibly, he smiled even wider. He opened the door in a gentlemanly fashion.

"After you, Miss Swan," he said in an English accent. To top it off, he bowed deeply.

"Thank you, Mr. Cullen," I said all lady like. I even did a little curtsy. We laughed. I got into the car. Before he closed the door, he winked. And of course, I blushed. Thank God he didn't see that, he was going around the back of the car. He slid in the drivers seat, and turned on the XM to a hits station. I recognized Tokyo Hotel, then sighed. Music always filled the silence. We sat like that for a few minutes, before it became unbearable.

"Do you get out of the dorm much?" I blurted out without thinking. The words fell from my tongue like tumbling blocks falling out of a child's arms. I regretted them. He hesitated.

"Actually… not at the moment. The first few days I was unpacking my stuff. And it's awkward being fifth wheel with Emmett and Jasper, so I don't like to go out with them. Homework keeps me busy anyway," he answered, unashamed. Of course, why would he be?

"That's how it is with me most of the time. Except I have classes everyday added to the work," I pointed out.

"It's glad to know I'm not the only one without a life," he laughed. His bronze hair bobbed to the music. Looking at him reminded me.

"I wouldn't say that yet. I saw a lot of girls eyeing you in the cafeteria. You have a chance with a whole bunch of them," I said thickly, trying to hide the the tremor in my voice. He looked at me from the side, with a face of disgust.

"Ugh. Don't remind me. A lot of my old friends had this weird mentality. If they were with a girl and they thought another better looking one than them liked them, they dumped the girl they were with like trash. It was horrible to watch, thank God it doesn't happen here much." He shook his head. I stiffened, and momentarily forgot that he avoided answering my statement.

"It happens here too," I echoed a little quietly. My body waited to feel the pain, but my mind had all but erased the memory.

He looked at me sadly. "I know," he murmured. It was quiet for a moment. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"How did you know?" I asked almost a little rudely. He didn't seem to mind. He sighed.

"Alice," he offered. I growled.

"Of course. Did she give you my whole biography while she was at it?" Edward laughed at the expression on my face.

"Don't be so hard on the girl. She just wanted me to know you better," he smiled. Of course. Something told me she would never give up hope on "Mission Bedward". I could practically see her in a patent black spy suit rolling on the floor, detective music playing in the background. Agent Alice. If only she knew it was a lost cause. If he wasn't interested in all the other pretty and beautiful girls in Briarwood that would look _good _next to him, he certainly wouldn't want to be with ugly old me. How many times would my heart be broken?

I heard Edward rustling a paper bag. I looked at him and smiled.

He plopped the bag on my lap. "I saved you a little." I peeked inside.

"You really shouldn't of saved me that much. You're the one that needs to eat breakfast, remember?" He rolled his eyes at me.

"Just eat, Bella."

I allowed myself to eat a little bite. Then I couldn't help myself, it was just so good. Before I even took notice what I was doing, I had eaten half of it.

"How did you keep this away from Emmett? That was amazing!" I said to him. Truly, it was one of the best cinnamon buns I had ever had. Maybe it was because I hadn't had a cinnamon bun in a while. It was a legit reason.

The corner of his lips tugged open into a grin. "Well, I'm glad you like it."

Edward slowed down and rolled down the window at the guard. I heard him and the ancient guard with white hair argue about something. I got bored, and I looked around the outside of the studio. It looked the same as any one story plaza building, but it looked like it was made to be incognito.

"Eh?" The old guard asked. He scratched at his ear.

"I said," Edward sighed in frustration, but I could tell he was trying to be polite, "That we're here for Alex Rivers."

"Frank Sinatra? Why he's been dead for years! I think It's time for a visit to the loony bin kiddo."

Edward growled. "Maybe you need a checkup yourself…" I heard him mutter under his breath.

I tapped him on the shoulder, and his angelic faced turned to look at me.

"Let me talk to him," I pleaded. He narrowed his eyes.

"Suit yourself," he mumbled, and backed his seat so the guard could look at me better.

"And what do we have here? A pretty lady?" His eyes were locked on my chest. My mouth opened in astonishment, and my eyes widened. For someone so old, how could he be so pervy?

I crossed my arms and looked him straight in the eye. "Can you please let us through?" I said as slowly as I could. I felt like I was talking to a dog. He nodded his head, and started smiling like a lunatic.

"Anything for a… ahum… _woman_ like you," he grinned mischievously, and opened the gate. I scowled fiercely, and I heard Edward growl in my ear. Once we were away from the guard, I let out an irritated huff.

"Alex was right about the guard," I said quietly, restraining my anger for one reason. Edward looked pissed, he didn't answer. I thought he was going to break the steering wheel with his deadly grip.

"Just wait until I calm down, please," he reasoned. I waited. Waited until he parked his car and turned it off. We still hadn't moved an inch.

"Are you okay?" I asked once I had cooled down. He moved his head a fraction of a centimeter.

"Better. I think we should go now, let's wait inside," he sighed. I started to open the door, until his hand caught me. That weird electricity flowed in between us again, paralyzing me.

"Please don't make this hard on yourself, or I'll have to kiddie lock the passenger," he grinned. I would have to remind myself to get used to it. But really, I felt like I was paying Edward to open the door for me and be my personal chauffeur. It didn't feel right.

I stayed locked in place, showing I was behaving myself. He opened the door for me.

"Thank you… again," I emphasized. He laughed.

"Let's see the inside. Maybe he's there already."

Edward looked anxious, like he was about to explode with excitement. I had quite the opposite effect. My stomach heaved.

"Right." I just needed to make sure I didn't throw up the double breakfast. I was never hungry in the mornings, anyway. I rarely had food before school.

We reached a glass door, the other side covered in blinds. The design logo was etched on the door, a rough outline of twin dolphins. One outlined in ocean blue, another in aqua, overlapping each other on a small ripple of sea in indigo. Below the design, "Blue Dolphin Studios" was printed in a loopy cursive print. I took a deep breath, and pushed the door open.

Wow. I had expected plush leather chairs, a humongous wide room, decorations fit for a king. Instead I got a staircase three feet away from the door in front of me. The room was painted in brown, it was small. Against the west wall was a navy love seat, a glass coffee table was the centerpiece of the room. Two white sturdy chairs were the one closest to me, on the south wall, near the blinds that covered the long, glass window. Under the white staircase was a little mini fridge, and on the right side of the north wall, a door. There was another door on the left side of the same wall, not much different than the one near the stairs. I walked in.

"It's a little… charming. Cozy," Edward commented. I nodded. It wasn't luxurious, no, but it wasn't cheap looking either. Sort of middle class, a little on the more high-end side than simple bargain though.

Edward crossed the room and plopped himself on the love seat, putting his cell phone on the glass coffee table.

"Now what?" I asked. I fidgeted in my seat, pulling down the bright red sweater that kept on rising too high. Stupid Juicy sweater.

"Well, it's seven fourty… eight to be exact. I was wrong before."

"I guess we could just sit down, right?"

"Already done," he said as-a-matter-of-factly. He was holding his relaxed position on the couch, smiling at me. I joined him.

"God," I muttered, "I'm so nervous." He looked at me, smile gone.

"Why?"

"It's just…. Alex _Rivers_. How can _you_ not be nervous?" I waved a hand at his perfect form. He leaned forwards, looking inclined to answer.

"Do what I do, it's not that hard. Just think of him as an actual person. Forget about the fact that you've seen him in the movies. He's an actor, just like you."

I cocked my head to the side. "I've never thought of it that way…" I thought out loud. After the film was released, would people see me that way too? Intimidating and unapproachable? More like a dream than reality? Heartbreakingly beautiful? I doubted that last one.

As if God was making fun of me, Alex barged into the doorway about five seconds later, face exhausted. I took it he had a long night. But when didn't the most famous man in the world have a break? Not often.

But when he looked at me straight in the eye I straightened up, my heartbeat speeding. Looking at him was like seeing a character in your favorite movie come to life. I remembered Edward's words, but at this point, they didn't really process. I still wasn't used to his casual, papparazziless self. I wondered if the only reason there weren't cameramen stalking him right now was because that horny old man knew how to keep up a conversation.

"Ah, you kids are on time. Let's get in the studio, we have a long day ahead of us."

We got up and walked to the door next to the sofa, following Alex's lead. He fumbled with a set of keys for a bit, but he opened the door in the end. It led to an even smaller room, full of doors and windows to see through them. Alex gestured me to go to the door on the right-hand side, and I entered while he and Edward went to another.

There was a big complicated microphone looking thing hooked to the ceiling, a single stool, one of those black fluffy earphones no one wore anymore, and a little stand full of sheet music. I stared at the window thing in front of me, smiling when I realized Edward and Alex were there. Edward was starting up some MacBook Pros attached to several wires all over the room and plugging in some wires together, looking like he was in a state of frenzy, which he kind of was. Alex was moving also, fingers moving fast with all the flashing buttons and lights in front of him. He swiveled around the room checking some speaker things, the doors, and the… lights?

I sat on the stool and waited patiently, taking out the sheet music while I was at it. I looked over the notes, and started humming them. Mi, Re, Do, Ti, La, So, Mi, So, Re, Do, La, Mi, Re, Do, Do, Do, Mi, Re; going downscale. It was pretty. I closed the score and started singing the scale, warming up so I didn't waste any more time. By the time they were both done doing whatever setup was necessary, I was already finished with one exercise. Alex had some of those black headphones on with a little microphone thing sticking out from it, the kind of thing you saw Brittany Spears wear in her good days. Alex pressed a button and spoke.

"Hey, Bella. You sound nice there," he complimented. I smiled.

"Thanks," I blushed a little. It was one thing receiving a compliment, but it was entirely another when getting one from Alex Rivers.

"And…" Edward prolonged, playing with a couple of switches. "On."

"Sing something for me, Bella," Alex looked at me with a curious expression. "Testing."

"It's not over, try to do it right this time around. It's not over, part of me is standing in the ground. This love is killing me, but you're the only one it's not ove-er," I sang, a scale higher than actually intended. Not the most challenging, but the first song that came to mind. Daughtry was safe enough, wasn't it?

I caught Edward with his eyes open, mouth slightly ajar, and Alex clapping twice, grinning wider than before.

"Gold! Pure gold!" he applauded. "Now let's just see if we can keep that for the rest of the song," I heard him saying lowly in the end. I huffed.

"I'll try."

After doing a few more warm-ups, we were finally ready to record. Edward was doing something with a MacPro laptop on a stand near the door, and Alex was turning a knob to some small little volume adjusting looking thing. All too complicated for me to understand. I had the easiest job of all.

"Skip the introduction, that's the background voices from a couple of other singers. Go from 'Sweet' to 'Butterfly', and add some vibrado at every half note besides 'excuse'. Extend 'Dry' and 'Butterfly' to an extra beat. Hold on to your earphones, though, and pronounce your words clealy into the mike. Clear?" Alex prompted quickly. I nodded.

He held up three fingers. 3…2…1. I counted the measures of the intro, silently of course. Any movement or the faintest of noises would be picked up on this mike. Not even the air conditioning was on. Edward and Alex were absolutely still, eyes glued to the scores. As the intro closed, I sucked in a breath and began.

Sweet as the sound of my newformed wings.

I stretch them open, I let them dry

I've never seen this world before

But I'm excused, I'm a butterfly.

Edwards face was expressionless the entire time, he didn't look at me. Alex held up a hand to motion it was clear. I sighed, and let those huge fluffy earphones fall to my neck. Edward spoke for the first time.

"Bella," he hesitated, "you're falling flat on the bridge on 'never'. Try it again," he encouraged, but I could see the hard face behind the mask. With things like this there was no time for compliments. I needed to sound absolutely perfect. I could tell Edward was in "the zone" thing that Jasper told me about. When he told me about it at first, I laughed at his wording. But now I understood what he was talking about. He truly loved music.

I sang, hitting the two notes on the bridge, and Edward smiled.

"You got it. Let's try it again," he said lightly, and started a countdown of his own. Alex looked at him from the side, shook his head, and grinned. His face said it all. It looked like Edward had taken over.

I sang the lyrics again, making it a point to be conscious about every single note, every bridge, every vibrato, every crescendo. All was silent for about three seconds, then Edward threw his hands and head back as he reclined slightly on the chair. He grinned wide, and regained his regular posture to look at me.

"You _nailed_ it, Bella," he congratulated as he looked at me, emerald eyes filled with praise. I fiddled with a piece of my hair, letting it break loose from the strangle hold the earphones had on my neck, smiling weakly back at him. I hardly deserved that much compliment, especially since it was only about two measures. Alex was pursing his lips, but remained silent. Edward looked a little too joyous. He shied away from the bubble of happiness Edward was creating, sliding his chair ever so slightly to the opposite side. I giggled.

"I still have about… okay, a lot of measures to go…" I trailed off. Edward cleared his throat.

"Right. But you should of heard that on recording," he sighed, his smile faltering a bit. Alex spoke again.

"Let's do it one page at a time, I don't want the rustle of the pages breaking through on the song. It only makes it that much harder to edit out. But keep it up, Bella. You sing that way again, we're done with your part fifteen minutes flat." Alex said. I flipped through the pages.

It was fun to record the song, yes, but it took a long time to finish it. Fifteen minutes was an extreme exaggeration I could of laughed at. I felt good about receiving constructive criticism, and learning how to form my mouth around certain words to make it sound just right. Here, at a recording studio, where people couldn't lie to you about your singing, was where I learned my flaws. Flaws I couldn't of detected if someone else had worshiped my singing like they always did. Before I knew it, my voice was done. Alex let me listen to myself outside the booth, on the couch near the wall. I listened, literally jumping out of my seat in anticipation. Edward sat next to me.

Sweet as the sound of my newformed wings

I stretch them open, I let them dry

I haven't seen this world before

But I'm excused, I'm a butterfly

I gasped. I had never heard myself more clearly in a recording. It almost sounded… different. Too beautiful. But, yet, it _was_ my voice. Only not muted by my ears. I willed myself to hear some more.

Sweet as the touch of your newborn wings

We fly in circles, we play with the sun

We haven't seen this world before

So fair, so bright, so blue the sky

Another long measure of breaks, apparently, a chorus of voices was to be added here. My mind was blank, I couldn't imagine anything to put in between here. I was having trouble being creative, the core of being an artist. I wondered idly, if I was losing it. Then I heard the next few lines, which threw me off thought.

Love me, love me on the leaves

Before we say goodbye

Love me, kiss me with the breeze

You will be my lullaby

Tommorrow I'll die

Tommorrow I'll die

Tommorrow I'll die

Be my lullaby

Love me, kiss me with your breeze

Love me, love me on the leaves

Love me, love me on the leaves

Before we say goodbye

Sweet as the wind it gently blows

The day away. And nighttime comes

Great are the wonders that silence shows

I fall asleep and I dream of the sun

And of my butterfly

"This… song… is going to be… _amazing_," Edward breathed, sinking down into the love-seat. I shrugged, really, it wasn't that good right now. It was just me singing, no instrumentals in the background. Alex looked at me with an understanding gaze.

"Have you done the instrumental to this thing?" I asked Alex. He looked confused for a second, then "Ah"ed.

"The instrumental is all the work in the voices. You'll… understand… after the final result."

"Four, Five, SIX voices?" Edward confirmed.

"Somewhere along those lines, though I'm absolutely sure it's over four," Alex laughed. Setting a laptop on a stand. I sighed happily. One song done, several more to go. Only Christina Aguilera could complete a song in under 6 hours, whenever she sang she sounded like she was lip syncing. Which was a good thing. It would take a whole bunch of work for my voice to reach that level, if it ever would.

My stomach growled. I folded my arms across it, frowning. It had to be around two o' clock or something of that sort, I was starving.

"Well," Alex said, "So that's that. You kiddos are free to go now, a couple of more people are coming in later to give me more stuff to play with." I nodded. 97 clicks.

I felt Edwards eyes on my face, and I turned around to look at him. He looked at me under his long lashes. His lips were twisted into a little smile, his teeth barely revealed. My heart gave a small thump. I was suddenly grateful for having some more time with him, the drive until we got back to the dorm. WHATS HAPPENING TO YOU? STOP IT NOW! A voice in my head screamed. The other side of me, the one that wanted to be with Edward, just smiled sheepishly, as if she was receiving a scolding from a little child. I shook my head, making the two little imaginary Bella's in my brain disappear. I was going nuts.

I looked at Alex once more before I left. I was always awkward with goodbyes.

"When do I get to hear the good version of the song?" I asked. Alex's eyes tightened.

"Umm… I don't have a right answer, but I'll call you to hear it if I have time after today, It's been pretty hectic," Alex sighed. I nodded in faux understanding. I wasn't as busy as Alex Rivers, I took it not many people were. Edward and I stood up.

"Thanks for letting me help out, Alex," Edward chimed in. He was fidgeting with the doorknob, looking like he wasn't sure when to leave. With one last smile at Alex, I slid Edward's hand off the doorknob, opened it, and stepped through. He followed me, eyes a little droopy.

Once we were out of the building, he stopped before he opened the door for me.

"Hey, are you hungry?" he asked, searching my eyes for an answer.

I was going to say no, because I knew where it was going to lead. But then my stomach growled as if it had been given a cue, and it gave me away. I crossed my arms over my stomach, humiliated at the noise. Edward laughed.

"I was thinking we could go to this place I know about five minutes away. Are you up for it?"

"Sure," I answered a little bit too quickly. My heart had gotten ahead of my brain. Again. It was becoming annoying, as if I couldn't make decisions on my own.

Edward opened the door for me. I gave him a small smile as I climbed in.

We weren't even out of the studio yet when I heard "Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!" playing from inside my purse. Edward raised an eyebrow. I sighed, and picked up the phone. It was only a text, so I didn't press it into my ear. Of course, it was Alice.

_WHERE R U?? ITS BEEN 4EVER!!_

_CALM DOWN ALICE_, I started, _HAVING LUNCH WITH EDWARD. BE BACK SOON._

I waited six seconds. Seven. Eight. No answer. I was starting to think that she jumped up from the couch, dropped her phone, and started happy dancing with Rose. It was also a likely possibility she burst into song. I saw Edward incline his head towards the screen, and I subtly rotated it a little more towards the window, obscuring it from his view. I looked up for a second.

"Alice," I explained.

"Ah," he nodded in understanding, gluing his eyes back to the road. Another verse of Boom Boom Boom Boom played.

_OMFGGG!! HES TAKING U 2_ LUNCH???

_YEAHH.._

_YOU. HAD. BETTER. TELL ME. EVERYTHING._ She demanded. I felt a thrill of genuine fear course through my veins.

_UMM… I'LL TRY._ I typed away. I was going to put a question mark at the end, but that would only make her virtually strangle me. I didn't want to have anymore, so I closed my Sidekick and turned it off completely.

"How did it go?" Edward asked me when I was done. I rolled my eyes.

"She wanted to know how every single second of my six hours went. The usual."

"The usual," he agreed. He twisted his fingers through his hair, and placed it back on the steering wheel. I felt my heart inflate like a balloon at the sight of him. I wanted so badly to stroke it, to do the same. To run my fingers through his hair. I had completely forgotten about Alice, or about anything in particular. It was just Edward, striking me with his God-like beauty. I tried to get a grip, but it was almost impossible. This wasn't like any of the other crushes I had, it had to be a little more, or headed in that direction anyway.

Then it hit me, like a punch in the gut. My eyes widened, my heartbeat sped faster, and adrenaline was pulsing fast in my neck. I couldn't believe it.

Was I just telling myself that I was falling in love with Edward Cullen?

**Ooooh! I think we know what that means. Well... I do anyway. lol. **

**I'm almost done with the next chapter, so it should be up soon. One thing I forgot to mention about my HSM fanfic is that it features two twilight characters. Who else better to add a twist to a story featuring...*drumroll*... Jessica Stanley and Mike Newton? :)**

**Another thing. You might want to go back to chapter 6, Special Delivery, because I changed the song "Inside Your Heaven", to my new song obsession. **

**For this chapter I'm aiming for 100 reviews. (Or more. The more the better. I love hearing from readers. :P) So people who I haven't heard from, I'd like to hear what you have to say! Constructive criticism is always great, because it helps me write better. So if you noticed anything you think needs an improvement, just review. :D**


	14. Nerves

**This chapter is dedicated to Katelyn. Something occurred where I lost this entire chapter, and I had to re write it all over again. She was there to talk to me while I endured all that work. Thanks, and I hope you like this chapter! :]**

**Chapter Song: Miracle by Paramore**

"Where is it that you're taking me again?" I asked. Edward looked hesitant for a slight second, and then his expression turned humorous.

"It's a surprise."

I frowned. "Not even a hint?"

"I have one." He looked like he was suppressing laughter. "It's not Burger King."

I let it drop. "We're almost there, right?" Edward had said it wasn't too far away.

"What, do you want to go faster?" he dared. He gave me a wicked grin, and then his foot slammed down in the pedal. Hard. The speedometer flew past sixty, not showing signs of stopping until it reached 95. My eyes bulged.

"No, no! Slow down!" I half screeched at him. The scenery flew past in a complete blur, not comprehendible of being anything besides color. My heart pulsed almost audibly. I felt as jeopardized and exposed as a little fish swimming in a vast sea of sharks.

"If you say so…" He gave me that dangerous, amused smile again. He slowed down willingly, the smirk not leaving his face. My heartbeat slowed.

"Well," he murmured after a while, "Here we are." I craned my head to see outside of the driver's window.

As he turned into the parking lot, I got a closer look. It was a white building, right out by the lake. I could see a couple of tables and umbrellas set out by the dock, people chattering and eating their food. It was an unusual place. Then again, I had never been the sort to go out this far just to eat.

Edward parked near a fence with a large hedge, obscuring any sort of view that was behind it. I folded my arms across my chest and huffed, watching him round the car and open the door for me.

"So, I was wondering… when am I going to ever open my own door?" I narrowed my eyes.

"When you drive your own car," he said sternly. I sighed, and followed his lead inside. A pretty, short haired blonde greeted us.

"Well, hello," she smiled at Edward. "Welcome to 'The Breeze Shack'. What can I do for you this afternoon?"

"I'll have a table for two, please," he asked politely, his face smooth and expressionless. It gave me a little surge of smugness to know Edward didn't respond at all the the pretty blonde girl. She didn't seem to notice, though.

"Right this way, please," she winked at him. I felt like throwing up. Edward gave her a weird look that I thought passed for looking completely creeped out. She sat us down at a table.

"Thank you," I mumbled high enough to be audible. She didn't look at me for one second; her eyes were still fixed on Edward.

"So when you're ready, you just go up to the bar and order, okay?" she smiled seductively, though her words held no suggestive meaning. I felt like punching her. Edward nodded a little stiffly, and she pranced away. That was when the irritation wore off.

"See what I mean? You can literally have any girl you want," I smirked.

"You noticed that, didn't you?" he chuckled when I nodded. "Well, not her."

I gave him a small smile, feeling a little pleased. I opened the menu, and folded my arms across the table as I looked down.

I heard a loud gasp not to long later, coming from b behind me. It broke me from my reverie, making me turn around to see who caused the noise. I inhaled sharply myself.

Bridget and Victoria were sitting behind us, mouths wide open, glaring. When I registered who they were, I whipped my head back to face Edward.

"Crap," I moaned. "I don't want to_ deal_ with this right now." He gave me a weird look, expression confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"See those people behind us? No don't look!" I ordered, because he was leaning to the side to get a full look at them. After I had spoken, he turned to face me, watching them from the corner of his eye.

"They look kind of familiar. Who are they?"

"Bridget Gregory and Victoria Cruz!" I hissed.

"Oh… actresses. I got it. Why are you freaking out though?" he asked innocently.

"See…the night of the meeting, they were a little—er... mean to me. I think the only reason Bridget didn't throw a bitch fit was because everyone else was there watching."

"Oh," he exhaled, his forehead still creased. "I get it. Do you want to sit outside?"

"Sure," I agreed immediately, hoping for any excuse to escape. His mood changed abruptly to something a bit more lighthearted. I felt my forehead relax; maybe he hadn't been the only one looking stressed. I scuttled out of my chair and we made our way outside. I could almost feel Bridget's familiar icy glare shooting laser beams into my back, but I made it a point to ignore her. I didn't want to freak out; she wasn't worth my trouble. Even if she was an A-List actress, and my ex-idol.

We ended up sitting down at the nearest table at the end of the dock. I let my head fall back into the sturdy wooden chair as I gazed at the lake blankly.

"Are you ready to order?" he murmured a little while after we were seated. I opened the menu, and chose the first thing that was on the list.

"Uh… a club sandwich, with a Sprite," I decided. Edward nodded at me, and stood up to place the order. I shook my head, and grabbed his arm. He glanced wildly at me.

"Edward, can I take this one?" I pleaded. He gazed into my eyes for a period of immeasurable time, speculating, hesitating? I couldn't tell. Eventually he sighed, and nodded. Then he frowned.

"This doesn't feel right. I feel bad about not ordering for you. Aren't I supposed to be taking _you _to lunch? Don't I have to make the order?"

I rolled my eyes. "Honestly, Edward, I think you'll live."

"Fine, but I'm paying," he insisted. I smirked.

"Deal."

"Okay, then. So you wouldn't mind getting a Western Classic, Doritos, and a Coke?" he smiled.

"It couldn't hurt," I grinned.

I stood up from the chair and pushed it in one swift moment, twirling around so that my hair swirled around my face. For some strange reason, I loved doing that. It made me feel pretty, something I needed to be reassured of every second I was with him.

I was greeted by the thickness of the warm air inside the restaurant, and relaxed further. Bridget stood up and started to walk near me, a devilish smirk locked in place. That warned me to get ready. But I made it a point to ignore her, to pretend like I had never seen her. My mind wandered to Edward.

Edward, Edward, Edward, Edward, Edward. Instead of forcing myself to stop thinking about him, I let myself obsess for the first tine. I let myself obsess for the first time. I barely noticed when the man at the bar asked me for my order. I was staring down at my hands, fiddling with my fingers unconsciously, smiling.

"Are you there?" The man said, sounding annoyed in his Italian accent. I looked up.

"Hmm?" I asked, sounding a bit drowsy to my ears.

"Are you ready to order?" he asked slowly, like he was making fun of a ditzy blonde. He dared to wave his palm in front of my face. I blinked twice.

"Uhh… right. Okay, I'll have a Coke and a Sprite, a Western Classic, Doritos, and a Club Sandwich. How much will that be?"

The man rolled his eyes. "Have you never been to these kind of restaurants before, lady? You pay when I call name. Name?" I could have sworn I heard him mutter "Idiot" right after. I gasped in shock.

I clenched my teeth together; this guy was pissing me off. "Cullen," I hissed. I wasn't sure if I didn't prefer talking to the horny security guard again.

"Thank you, you will be called after chef cook food," the guy said with a smile that looked almost _too _fake. I glared at him, and looked at his nametag, ready to file a complaint. I registered his name, and doubled up in a laughing fit, forgetting his rude behavior for a small moment. He gave me a weird look. When I regained myself, I spoke.

"No, thank _you_… _Mister _Andrea DiPietro," I giggled, cupping a hand over my mouth. I saw his nostrils flare and blush the color of fire burn his face. His entire face. He looked like he was choking.

"Andrea is a very common name in Italy!" he protested, looking like he was going to slap me. At first I flinched at his expression, but I decided to play with him. I smiled at him kindly.

"Then why don't you go back to where you belong?" I asked sweetly, no trace of venom seeping through my words. With that, I turned on my heels and walked away, smile warping into a smirk.

I actually knew and Andrea in one of my old art classes, and he was fairly nice. If this Andrea wasn't so mean to me in the first place, I would have felt bad for him. But the guy gave me a too easy excuse to get my revenge. I caught Victoria looking at me with her mouth open in shock. Bridget no longer dared to confront me; she slumped down at her seat, looking like she was trying extremely hard not to be noticed. My smirk only got wider. I dealt with two problems at once.

"What was that all about? The guy looked about ready to murder you," Edward asked worriedly once I was sitting down again. I grinned wickedly and spoke.

"The cashier was just acting a little rude…"

"What?" he said flatly. "Do you want me to talk to him?"

"No, no!" I said quickly, "Don't worry, I dealt with him."

Edward looked at me with a disgusted expression for a second, like he was looking at something revolting. Then it abruptly disappeared when he laughed wildly, shaking his head in disbelief.

"What's so funny?" I smiled, trying to forget what his face looked like before he laughed.

"Nothing, nothing." I raised my eyebrows. "Just… what you said reminded me of a book I read. Normally when someone says "I dealt with it," they admit to killing with someone."

"Well, I didn't go that far," I muttered.

He laughed again. "I hoped not."

It was silent for a bit, while I looked back at the lake. Then a thought occurred to my mind, and I turned my head back to face him.

"You said you had some stuff you made up for the song right?" I asked.

"That's right," he smiled, confirming my thought.

"Well…" I prolonged, trying to see if he got what I was saying wordlessly. He waited for me to speak, not looking like he was getting the message. I exhaled. "Well, I was wondering what you did. What you did for the song." Edward still smirked at me, like he hadn't heard anything. I felt like waving a hand in front of his face, like Andrea did to me. But instead, I just waited.

Edward kept that smug grin plastered on his face. "I'm not telling you."

I frowned. "I think I have a right to know."

"It's a surprise…"

My eye twitched. "Is everything a surprise with you? I fee like I've been surprised ten times today. It's getting annoying."

"Not really, just twice. And that's the point. You're cute when you're mad," he grinned wildly,

I shook my head, trying to dispel the blush that threatened to betray me. "You're unbelievable!"

My breathing became heavier, I felt like the hairs on my head were on fire. Edward had called me cute. Cute in a little girl way or in a flirty, trying-to-make-it-obvious-I-like-you way? I longed to find out. But I didn't say anything, of course. I stook to my charade.

"CULLEN!" A voice yelled from the inside dining area. I jumped up in surprise. Edward flinched also. I leaned back, and so did he. I didn't even notice we were subconsciously leaning towards one another.

"I got this one," Edward reminded me. I nodded, and he walked briskly inside. I slumped back down on the chair for what seemed like the fifteenth time, gazing back at the sunlight glittering off the indigo blue lake. In no time he was back.

"Club Sandwich with a Sprite. Am I right?" he said as he placed the basket of food and the soft drink on the table. I rolled my eyes, and smiled weakly.

We started eating. I nibbled on my food silently, pausing every now and then to take a sip at my Sprite. Edward had finished half of his burger before he talked to me again.

"So tell me a little bit about your family. I haven't heard anything from them," he started. I sighed.

"What do you want to know? They're not very interesting," I assured him.

"Some details, please, Bella? You can't even give me your dads name or something?"

I huffed. "Okay, my dad's name is Charlie, my moms name is Renee. Dwyer," I reminded myself out loud. Edward frowned.

"They're divorced?" he asked curiously. I nodded.

"I'm sorry," he said apologetically.

I scoffed. "Don't be. I don't even remember them together; they divorced when I was a baby."

"So is your dad the C.E.O. of a big company… your mom some famous interior designer…?"

I knew what he was referring to. Most of the kids at Briarwood were ridiculously rich, always sporting Corvettes, Aston Martins, Bentleys, all the good stuff. Their parent's occupations ranged from famous actors, state governors, C.E.O's, T.V. show hosts, famous artists; they packed in the money of that sort of caliber. I even heard one student was a Taiwanese rock star. I was the only one exception to that stereotype. I couldn't afford to pay Briarwood over 42,000 a year. The tuition didn't include extracurricular classes, which were required in some form or another. There was even a 200 dollar fee for housing. A total rip-off. My scholarship paid for everything besides my clothes and my car. I didn't have time to work in order to make my own money. My mom provided me with clothes, while my dad paid for my car.

"Hardly. My dad's the chief of police at a small town in Washington; my mom's a kindergarten teacher in Jacksonville. I'm on scholarship." _Most likely the only one on scholarship, _I reminded myself. I had yet to see another Honda in the school parking lot.

He nodded in understanding. I could almost hear the whirring of his brain as he tried to process this new information. "So far from home though..." he said mostly to himself. I shrugged.

"I see my dad winter break and my mom during the summer. I'm good. I'd much rather like it if they came up to New York, though. Winters in Washington and summers in Florida. Think about it."

He laughed. "I suppose that true. But aren't New York winters about the same temperature as the ones in Washington?

I smirked. "Keep in mind Washington is closer to Canada than New York is. I'm pretty used to the winters here, or the early ones at least."

He shook his head once, in a rough, sharp movement. "I'm not the best at geography. I'm more the literature kind of guy. Any subject that challenges me to be creative suits me."

"I would have never guessed," I said sarcastically, and rolled my eyes.

"Well. Are you ready to go?" he finally asked.

"Sure. I'm full." We stood up and took our food, throwing it in the trash. I set the little plastic netted bowl that once held my sandwich on the counter where all the other people put theirs. Edward and I went inside. Bridget and Victoria, thankfully, were no where to be found. We progressed to his Volvo.

The ride back to Briarwood seemed to be very short. We kept up a good conversation. We talked about the school and the people; about which teachers were nice, which were mean, which classes were easy, which ones were hard. Somehow that conversation led me to ask him a new question, a question that seemed to be worn out.

"How do you like Briarwood so far, though?"

"Well…" he paused. "Well… I didn't like it so much, the first day I came here. After my interview with the music teacher, she told me that I should go watch the auditions for Aladdin in the auditorium, since all of the music students were supposed to make sort of an orchestra the night of the play. And then, not five seconds after I got there…" He started laughing. I hung my head down in shame.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled for the millionth time. My lower lip stuck out slightly.

"Don't be," he chuckled. "Sure, I was freaked out at first, but now I'm glad it happened." His tone grew soft, almost whispering now. "I'm glad I met you."

For the next few seconds, I tried to come up with something to say. But I couldn't. I was totally speechless. I let the moment alone in its own glory, leaving it to carve itself into my memory.

"But then," he smiled, changing the mood, "It got better, things changed. I'm starting to like Briarwood better than my old school. It's more... open. Fun."

Then he randomly started talking about music, effectively ending that conversation.

0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0

Edward dropped me off at the girls' dorm. He had said he would be back around seven or so, so we could work on the song. Of course, the second I creaked the door open to the dorm, planning to stealthily tip-toe in, she had jumped at me.

"Alice—you're suffocating me," I choked. She was hugging me fiercely, knocking the breath out of me. She let go after around three seconds, and then I saw her face.

Irritated. Confused. Elated. But most of all, curious. Her expression demanded answers.

"Start from the beginning, when he picked you up," she said excitedly, ocean colored eyes bright. I sighed, and plopped the bag on the floor. I was still leaning against the door, feeling claustrophobic.

"Let's sit down first," I suggested, pulling her hand towards the couch. She allowed that much. But I had a feeling that's all she would put up with.

Once I dropped myself on the couch, I began. I tried to leave out as many details as I possibly could, but adding enough details so that she was satisfied. I threw in the part where he called me cute and said he was glad he met me. At the end of my tale, she started jumping up and down.

"Oh my God, Bella I think he likes you!" she squealed, and smiled hugely.

"Wait, what?" I asked, trying to ignore the fact that my heart leapt at her words.

"Well, duh. First he picks you up to go to the studio, then he takes you to lunch, he calls you cute, he says he's glad you kicked him with Angela's Spanish dance shoes, which _hurts, _or else he wouldn't of met you. I mean... _come on! _He's practically screaming he likes you!"

"You think so?" I bit my lower lip.

"I think that bronze-haired baby prophecy of mine is getting clearer each day."

I huffed. "Don't jump to conclusions, Alice. You never know."

"But I have a pretty good feeling about Ed-ward," she sang. She paused, face expressionless. Then that wicked smile of hers erupted across her face; a warning. She was up to something.

"You know, let's make a bet." She said slowly, a hint of her southern accent seeping though her words. "If Edward kisses you sometime between now and fourteen days from today, two weeks, I get to throw a party at the dorm. If he doesn't…"

"If he doesn't, no party," I said with a coy smile. I hated parties. They made me feel uncomfortable. People were always huddled up into their little cliques, and they started to look at what everyone else was wearing, and who they were dancing with. There was more gossip being spread around than people having a good time dancing. If people actually danced a little at Briarwood parties, I would probably enjoy it more. Alice thrust out her little pinkie, smirking.

"Deal?" she grinned.

"What happens if he kisses me… and I _don't _tell you, so I can escape from the party?"

"Oh, I'll know. Besides, the party would be fun if Edward was your date."

I thought about that for a second, and realized she was right. Out of all the parties that I had been through, there were only two that were bearable, and that was because I had always had a date.

"Deal?" she repeated. I hesitated, but then I extended my pinkie, locking it with hers.

"Deal."

Life lesson #1: Never bet against Alice.

**Ohh. I think we learned that lesson in the book, didn't we? Haha! And yes, you should all probably go back to chapter 6 right now to see the song that Bella and Edward were working on. I changed it to "Inside Your Heaven" to "Only Hope". So don't be surprised next chapter when you see the change. :]**


	15. My Only Hope

**This chapter isn't very long, but it introduces more conflicts near the end. Still, I hope you like it. **

**Just a reminder, I changed Bella's song from "Inside Your Heaven" by Carrie Underwood, to "Only Hope" by Mandy Moore. For those of you who didn't know, so you won't get confused. :]**

**Another thing. One of my readers and reviewers, Miss C. Cullen, is holding a competition. She's having some trouble getting the word out, so I'm pitching in. It would be nice if a few of you participated in her competition. Simple rules are, 1. It has to be a Twilight fanfic, (AU and/or AH is allowed) 2. It has to be 250 words, and 3. Submit it to her on PM before 11:59 PM on 12/31/08. The more competitors, the more credit you get for winning the competition. I have a link on my profile, if you want to learn more. (Or you can just scroll through my reviews to find her.) :P**

**Song: Only Hope by Mandy Moore**

Alice and Jasper had fleeted the dorm before seven. Jasper had really just wanted to stay at the dorm watching football, but Alice had convinced him otherwise. He had argued it was hardly premeditated, so he wasn't obligated to watch some chick flick with her anyway. Yet, somehow, Alice managed to drag him to the movie theatre. Rosalie had done the same with Emmett, though _he_ dragged her away from the dorm to a sports bar. She wanted to stay to do her hair, because she claimed it was disgusting. Naturally, Emmett gave her a dozen compliments, and she warmed up to him. Something told me that Alice and Emmett were in this thing together.

I lay down on my twin-sized bed; eyes locked on the digital alarm clock on the nightstand. The red light flickered from displaying 7:02 to 7:03. I waited patiently. Edward would be here any second. In the meantime, I rolled over to the other side of the bed. It seemed like watching the minutes tick by made time pass slower.

It had seemed like two hours later when I finally heard a knocking on the door. I stood up, blood rushing to my head, making it swim. As my vision got clearer, I looked at the digital clock once more. I couldn't believe it had only been five minutes.

I darted to the door and unlocked it, swinging it open. Edward's hair became winded when I opened the door. A portion of his hair that lay assured on his head stood up like Alfalfa's comically. I smiled.

"Hey, Bella." I could hear the velvety folds of his voice.

"Er, hi," I breathed. I ran a hand through my hair awkwardly.

"Can I come in?" he asked politely. I nodded, moving away from the door. He closed the door behind him, moving towards the couch. I sat down, while he was setting something on the coffee table. He started unstrapping his laptop case and turned it on. Then he looked at me.

"Does Rosalie have a keyboard?" he asked, looking morbidly hopeful.

"Yeah, it's right next to the dresser," I anwsered, peeking in the half closed door of her bedroom. At least I thought it was there.

"Do you think she would mind if I used it?" he asked, hesitating. I scoffed.

"I'm sure she won't. She hasn't touched it in ages, since all she does is go the the open practice every day in the conservatory."

"Can I go to her room and bring it over here? Are you sure she won't mind?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm positive." When she caught me playing the Jaws theme, the only song I knew, she offered to give me her Yamaha. I refused, of course. So she just let dust collect on it in her room.

Edward grinned. "Okay, then. Send me that track from Garage Band so I can get it on my laptop in the meantime." He got up from his knees and went into Rosalie's room.

I opened my MacBook. It was already on standby, so I didn't have to wait for it to load. I opened up that untitled track on Garage Band with me singing, and transferred it to Itunes. When Edward came back with the keyboard, I had already burned a CD with the thirty or so long second tune of me singing, and inserted it into his sleek silver MacPro.

"I'll take over from here. Just plug in the cord to the keyboard." He had moved several magazines into a pile on the coffetable to make room for the massive keyboard. It had a whole bunch of random buttons I couldn't make sense of, surely musicians didn't need that many tools. Then again, what did I know about playing the piano?

I got up from the couch and plugged it in, then came back and turned it on. My elbow touched this weird, black switch swivel thing as I tested out a note. The high Mi went sliding down, like an effect I once heard on a cartoon when the coyote fell from a cliff chasing the roadrunner. I giggled.

Edward chuckled, and pushed the tip of his fingers to raise the Mi again. It slid back to it's proper place.

"Having fun?" His emerald eyes were bright with curiosity. I locked my eyes with his gaze.

"If you value my sanity, don't show that effect to Alice. She'll spend four hours straight driving Rose and I up the wall with that noise." He laughed at whatever expression was crossing my face. I smirked, and craned my head over to see what he was doing. I gasped as I saw the title of the open PDF file.

"You... How is that possible?" My mouth was wide open. The title was "Only Hope", composed by E. Cullen. Page 1 of 7. Seven Pages!

"It wasn't so hard," he shrugged, "Once I have a tune in my head, it sort of just flows. I played it by ear first, and then I wrote it down."

"Do you have the sheets here?"

He smiled. "I was waiting for you to ask that."

Edward pulled out a folder from his briefcase, the one that held his laptop. He handed the it to me without a word, smirking as he returned to his work.

My eyes bulged as I opened the folder. There was two compisitions; the piano and the vocal. I took out the vocal one shyly, balancing it in my hand, pursing my lips.

"Well, go ahead. Sing it," he said excitedly. I peeked inside the vocal score, took a deep breath, and began. Edward smirked at me as he turned on the piano. I waited as he played the introduction. My heart thudded as I heard how pretty it sounded; I knew in that instant that it was going to be an amazing song.

"There's a song that's inside of my soul

It's the one that I've tried to write over and over again

I'm awake in the infinite cold

But you sing to me over and over and over again

So I lay my head back down

And I lift my hands and pray

To be only yours I pray

To be only yours

I know now, you're my only hope

I stopped for a break as Edward's fingertips brushed along the keyboard. I felt tears creeping up along the edges of my eyelashes.

Sing to me the song of the stars

Of your galaxy dancing and laughing and laughing again

When it feels like my dreams are so far

Sing to me of the plans that you have for me over again

So I lay my head back down

And I lift my hands and pray

To be only yours I pray

To be only yours

I know now, your my only hope.

I give you my destiny

I'm giving you all of me

I want your symphony

Singing in all that I am

At the top of my lungs

I'm giving it back

So I lay my head back down

And I lift my hands and pray

To be only yours I pray

To be only yours I pray

To be only yours I know now

Your my only hope

I watched Edward's fingers slide gracefully along the piano. The noise it made was the same as the jaw dropping introduction that I had heard previously. He hit the notes with the slightest of pressure, and he slowed down the tempo. He ended the song with a soft, comforting note that lulled like a lullaby. The last note hung there as it drifted slowly away.

A tear slid down hot and wet on my left cheek. I tried to brush it away with the back of my hand, but his long fingers beat me there.

"You're crying?" he asked in astonishment. I nodded.

"That song was so beautiful," I managed to croak out. "How did you write it?"

He smiled weakly. "It was easy. I told you, I already had the song in my head. All I did was write it down."

"It takes a freakishly smart musician to make up a song like that off the top of his head. It's not normal," I insisted. He sighed.

"It's not so hard to write a song. You write a poem, and find the right tune to go along with it. It just so happened that I already had one."

I had no words to sum up the song. It seemed like I had already used up the word beautiful too many times. Or maybe that was because I repeated it in my head so much.

"Now, let's take it from the top. You fell a bit flat on that sharp Do..."

So we commenced.

Time flew by so quickly. It wasn't like in the studio, where the it went by so ridiculously slow it was like watching grains fall down the hourglass one by one. And I was having so much fun, just toying with music and making myself better. Oftentimes while he was editing, we would talk about random things. I realized I no longer had to force myself to spark a conversation with him. It was as natural and unconcious as talking to Angela or Alice. I didn't know what time it was until Edward got a text from Emmett. He chuckled when he read it and showed it to me.

_Time to make your escape. Jasper and Alice are heading back, and I can't stall Rose any longer. Unless you want them to start asking questions, I suggest you get back to the dorm._

I laughed. It seemed like Jasper and Rosalie had no idea about our little get together. I wondered why Alice and Emmett didn't tell them. From what I heard of, they weren't adverse to the possibility of a relationship between Edward and I.

"Well," he sighed, "I better get going before Jasper finds out and chews my head off. I'm supposed to be watching his football game and giving him all the details." He rolled his eyes. I laughed.

"It was fun. We should do it again sometime," I said hopefully.

"Definitely. This song is going to be something special," he agreed. We walked slowly to the doorway.

"Bye, Edward, have a nice night." I opened the door and let him through.

"You too," he called as he slid through the door and into the hallway. I closed the door quietly once he left from my view. I bit my lip, trying to hide a beaming smile.

Sometime after I had taken a shower and plopped myself into bed, someone--I guessed it was most likely Alice more than Rosalie-- arrived. I hid into the covers to curl myself into a little ball. I didn't want to explain to anyone what had happened tonight.

I heard my door creep open, and the sound of someone coming in. Whoever it was just stood there for a minute, making no noise. Then the person tiptoed out, as if not to make me wake up. Definitely Rosalie, not Alice. At least Rosalie cared to think once over the fact that I was sleeping. Or pretending to be anyway.

Over the course of the next few days, Edward and I progressed from being aquaintances-- thanks to the fact that the two happy couples always brought us along as fifth wheels-- to being actual friends. I hadn't heard anything from Alex and his people, and no one said anything about the movie either at school. So things were almost back to the way things were before Valentines Day, and Jacob. Almost.

Apparently being one of Edward's best friends wasn't enough for me. I was always wanting more, dreaming about being in a relationship with him. But I was completely terrified about making the first move. If he didn't like me back, which was more likely than the other possibility, things would get completely awkward and embarrasing. 1. We would lose our friendship, and 2. We would have to endure one of those triple date get-togethers with Ben, Angela, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. No thanks. I would rather keep it the way things were.

But that didn't stop me from dreaming.

"You know..." Edward started one Tuesday afternoon as we were walking down the hall.

"What?"

"Well, Emmett just told me that Rosalie said that Alice was planning to have a party this Saturday night, in celebration of the start of the making of the film."

I grimaced. Alice still hadn't given up hope hadn't she? It seemed like she was waiting for the very last second for her prophecy to come true. Time was running out for her. Still, I wouldn't be so mean as to shut down her party or anything, even if it meant not having a good nights sleep. It had almost been two months since she had thrown a party, and now she had a reason to.

"Yeah, I heard. She said something about that a couple of days ago, but I wasn't really paying attention. I'm not a party person."

"I never would have guessed," he smirked, and I punched him playfully in the arm, grinning. He mused with my hair, and let the subject drop. I saw the light leave his eyes, and I wondered if he had something more on his mind about the party.

That afternoon, I got a phone call that was a little awkward... and weird.

"Hello?" I asked breathlessly as I draped a towel over my shoulder. The sound of kids panting on treadmills, and the sound of treadmills running, made a lot of noise around me. The fitness center wasn't exactly a great place to have a conversation.

"Hey, Isabella! It's Elisa!" the voice sqeaked in an excited voice.

"Uh...huh. Okay, yeah, hold on," I said as I narrowed down the exit, where the noise disappeared and I could concentrate on the woman's voice. "Who is this?"

"Elizabeth, your manager? Remember that conversation we had with Alex?" she said hopefully.

I groaned internally. The Palin twin. "Uh... yeah, I remember you now. What's up?"

"Well, I was hoping that you were free tomorrow for dinner so we could discuss something..."

I was. "Actually, I can't. I'm crammed with conservatory classes, and a whole bunch of homework. Sorry."

I heard the fake sweetness sapping out of her voice like honey. "Well, I'm sure that I can talk to your administrators, so we can arrange a meeting. Your a very busy girl these days."

I frowned. I liked my conservatory classes. I didn't want to give them up for dinner with this prude. "Uh... why don't you just tell me whatever you need to say on the phone? I'm not really up for dinner." I paced down the sidewalk to the dorms.

"Oh, alright. I actually wanted to discuss publicity. The paparazzi will be trying to sneak in the Briarwood campus from now on..."

"What?" I said flatly.

"Sweety.." my eye twitched, "when you're out and about off campus, there's some things you need to be careful about. From now on, you have to dress nicer, have your hair done, wear makeup all of the time, and watch out with the people you hang out with."

I stopped jogging, confused. "Are you saying that the way I dress and the people I hang out with need improvements?"

"Good girl, I love how you catch on quickly," she giggled. My blood boiled, and I felt like hanging up.

"You should spend more time with the other cast members and less time with your Briarwood buddies, since the paps are going to watch out who you hang out with."

"And what's wrong with my real friends?" I demanded.

"They... Look. They're not famous. _You_ will be. I think it's time to start drifting away from them, so when the movie comes out and you're in high demand, it will be... easier... to get rid of them for good."

I was appaled, and a little bit digusted. Give up my friends? I didn't want to! She couldn't make me do that... could she? Fear pulsed in my veins.

"Is that all?" I asked sourly.

"No, I wanted to discuss one more clause..."

"And that would be?" I smiled bitterly.

"Your ability to have relationships. From what I've heard of, you're single. So I'm sure you wouldn't mind going out with Jacob Black off campus? If the paparazzi can catch you together.. then it would be great for the publicity of the movie."

"I don't like Jacob Black," I said through gritted teeth.

"You don't have to spend a lot of time with him. Just go to your interviews with him, and once in a while, hang out in public. Alone. It's not so much to ask is it?"

I sighed. "No... but it's a little uncomfortable. We aren't even on speaking terms."

I heard a smile in her voice. "You had better get used to it, Bella. I promise you, you'll be on speaking terms soon. Bye." she hung up. I growled in exasperation, an "Ugh!" escaping through my lips as I hung up. I ran as fast as I could, reaching the dorm in about 20 minutes of running.

I didn't want to do it. First, she asked me to give up my friends, in exchange for A-listers that I felt incredibly awkward being around. Second of all, which was the one I was unwilling to do the most, she wanted me to be an item with Jacob Black. She had officially gone insane, not that she wasn't a bit loopy before. The thought of me and Jacob.. together.. made me gag. But her words repeated in my head once more.

_Get used to it!_

I didn't want to.

**Short chapter, I know. I originally wanted to update before Christmas, but that didn't work out too well. **

**I'm starting a new Twilight fanfic, Secrets of an Heiress. I'm in the process of getting it into a couple of C2's that Sweet Dreams is in, because I'm looking for more readers. If you like my writing and want to check it out, just look for the story on my profile. I've been wanting to do this fanfic for a while, because it takes place where I live, totally the opposite of New York. (Yes, just because I do a lot of reasearch on the Westchester area doesn't mean that I live there.) And if you can, leave a review. It would mean a lot. I'm most likely to respond. :]**


	16. Tales of a Dolphin

**OMG! This chapter makes my fanfic 50,000 words long, which was the length of my nanowrimo. (Nvm the fact that it's over two months late... and I started this fanfic in early July) Just throwing that out there.**

**This chapter is dedicated to Anne Kingsmill and Totallyanon for reviewing my other fanfic and being such pwnsome readers in the first place. Thanks so much for your reviews.. it means alot.**

**A special shoutout to my Beta, ThisIsMyDisguise. Thanks for the edits! :] **

**Chapter song: Words composed by Anders Edenrough. (Link to the song on my profile... It's an extremely hard song to find.)**

The day after receiving the troubling call from Elisa, Edward picked me up to go to the studio, to work on another song. He said that this time, I wouldn't be the only one there. I tried to ask him for more information, but he insisted that he had none.

"Bridget? Victoria?" I asked out of caution. He shrugged.

"I wouldn't know, Alex doesn't bother telling me who we're going to work on, unless it's a single person. We'll see when we get there," he replied with a serious face. He wasn't oblivious to the fact that Bridget and Victoria were a little too cold towards me, which I appreciated. When Bridget and Victoria lay eyes on Edward and I, they would probably pounce on him.

He stopped the Volvo, and I scanned the row of vehicles. My eyes spotted a flashy red 2008 Dodge Challenger, an aqua-silver Audi Z4, a Porsche Cayman in white, a blue Ferrari, and a silver Aston Martin I recognized as Alex's ride. It looked like the only car in the lot that looked the least bit durable was Edward's Volvo, and I was grateful. With my bad luck, I would crash Alex's Vantage, even if I wasn't the one driving it.

When we entered the recording studio, I breathed a sigh of relief. No sign of Bridget or Victoria. Instead, I was greeted by the friendly faces of Alexa Moore, Steve Lyons, Lilly Newman, and Aaron Duke, who smiled when they noticed my entrance. I beamed.

But my mouth fell into a scowl when I saw who was standing to the far left of the booth. Jacob.

"Just in time, Bella. We were about to begin the introduction without you," Alex said carefully, and a bit sarcastically. I looked at him in confusion, trying to process his cold expression. Then I stiffened as I remembered his words, the memory being tugged from what seemed to be like years ago. Alex was demanding that I be meticulously punctual. I had been having breakfast with Edward at the dorm, and we ran late. Oops.

"Sorry, but we just got caught in traffic. The cargo train was due early, and it set us off track," Edward said surely in his velvety voice. I tilted my head up to lock my eyes with his emerald gaze. His eyes were ghosted with a hint of a white lie. My mouth parted the slightest bit to transform into a smirk.

"Well, alright then. Bella, get in the booth so we can get started. Your stand is right in between Lilly and Aaron," Alex surrendered. I nodded, and went inside. I was grateful to not have my stand next to Jacob. I peeked at him, but his eyes traveled nowhere near me. Instead, his eyes were locked on Alexa's butt, which was unfortunately defying gravity not two feet away from him. I shook my head in disgust.

"Let's hear something, Bella," Alex said. I saw Edward move to sit in the swivel chair next to him.

I took a deep breath, and sang the scale up and down, Edward beamed.

"Perfect."

The next seven hours were better than I expected. It wasn't like when I was alone; the atmosphere then was completely serious. Today, the air around us was more giddy--alive. We all got to know each other a bit better, and we had a lot of fun. Even Jacob wasn't acting like his horny self for once, a miracle.

There was a downside, though. By the time we finished the song we were all starving. We were sitting around outside on the couch, waiting patiently while Alex and Edward tweaked the final details of the song.

"I'm hungry," Aaron complained for the millionth time, stating the obvious. One hand moved to his stomach, which growled loudly on cue.

"We know," Alexa countered, scowling. Her good mood washed up by the toll of the fifth hour.

"Hey, do you guys want to go eat after this? There's a Chilies right around the corner," Lilly said brightly. No one hesitated for a second on their decision, except for me. I didn't fit in the A-List circle, and it would be awkward to have Jacob tag along. There was no doubt that he would. He would do anything for attention.

"I'm in," Steve said immediately, followed by Aaron. Once Alexa joined the group, she looked kindly at me.

"Edward can come too, Bella," she assured me. I was still hesitating, eyes locked on Jacob.

"Are you coming, Jake?" I said quietly, trying to not let the venom seep through my words. He shook his head.

"Nah. Embry's my ride, and he needs to finish some homework," he sighed. That made my decision.

"So, Bella?" Lilly asked. I smiled a bit, and nodded. Alexa grinned widely as she saw that I joined the pro-food group.

"Okay, we're done. Do you guys want to hear the song?" Alex asked. We weren't hungry to the point that we didn't want to see where seven hours of dedication and perfection got us. We all nodded.

"Here goes. It's a little... interesting. But it goes along with the scene you guys are gonna shoot this with, so try not to be judgemental," Alex warned us. Edward's index finger was hovering over a button, waiting for Alex's command. When he nodded in approval, he pressed down on it. The fusion of our voices synchronized on the first syllable.

_Words, a letter on, a letter on the street. _

_With hope, forever humanity spellbound._

_Words, position of a beggar and a king._

_Everybody everyday, more than anyone can say._

_Words, it started as a complicated tool._

_Created by man you, you can find the words._

_Description of the genius and the fool. _

_Everybody everyday everywhere and every way,_

_Woah words._

_Find them you diffuse them, say them you die near them._

_Bribe them, you can grieve them. _

_Love them, feel them. _

_Words, transmitted as a feeling from the start. _

_Is seen by all as sentenced to a life with words._

_Discretion of the stupid and the smart. _

_Everybody everyday more than anyone can say._

_Words. Inside your head can come alive as we say, "Something loves me more and proudly." _

_Words, descriptions of the living and the dead. _

_Everybody everyday everywhere and every way._

_Woah words._

_Find them you diffuse them_

_Say them you die near them_

_Bribe them you can breathe them, _

_Love them, fear them. _

This had to be the part where Alex insisted it got a little... weird. The song was cut off, with only us singing "ooh," in the background. Then came a bang of voices. Laughing, mumbling, whistling, talking, and shouting voices were molded all in one. I wondered how this went with the scene we were supposed to film. Then the disruption of voices disappeared, as our voices entered again, softly.

_Find them_

_Use them_

_Say them_

_Feel them_

_Write them_

_Read them_

_Love them_

_Fear them_

_Find them, you can use them._

_Say them, you try near them._

_Write them, you can read them._

_Love them, fear them._

_Words, a letter on, a letter on the street._

"W-o-w," Lilly extended into three syllables.

"That was some nice work, Alex," Steve complimented. Alex chuckled.

"This song was pretty complicated to compose, but it came out the way I wanted it too. It's quite an accomplishment, too. I thought we would have to spend three days on it."

We stood up from the couch, and Edward went to my side immediately, facing Alex.

"And that's that," he sighed, "You're free to go now."

We all called our goodbyes as we walked out the door, into the main reception area and out to the parking lot. I felt a twinge of guilt as we walked away from Alex, who was left all alone in the dimly-litted room. But his expression showed me to not be worried about him, though. He looked accustomed to the lonliness, as weird as the phrase sounded. He was Alex Rivers, the man who had everything, the man who was envied by all men. The man who was on billboards all over the world, the man who had fangirls chase him wherever he went.

The man who was only human.

"You sure you don't want a ride, Jake?" Steve asked. Jacob shook his head.

"You can always call Embry and tell him I got you covered," Aaron insisted.

"I don't have my cell with me, sorry," he said with an impish grin.

"You can use mine," Lilly offered. She whipped out her iPhone from her back pocket.

"No," he said coldly, and faced the other direction. Lilly snapped her head at him, lines of anger prominent on her face. Aaron was also looking at Jacob with confusion and surprise.

"We better get going," Edward muttered, and we headed into the Volvo. Everyone flew to their cars. Aaron went to his Dodge Challenger, Steve went to the Ferrari, Alexa, the aqua-silver tinted Audi, and Lily stood at her Porsche's side.

"Uh.. we'll follow you there?" I asked Lilly. She nodded. Edward opened the door for me, and I went inside. He was at the drivers seat in no time.

"What was that all about?" Edward muttered mostly to himself, so lowly he probably didn't even think I could hear.

"Who knows? It's Jake. Though why it is that he would pass up a chance to go to dinner with A-Lister's is way past my mind," I shrugged. Edward started the engine, and we backed up, waiting for the line of cars to form. How people in traffic would be surprised when they saw a perfect row of luxury vehicles.

Edward looked bewildered, and he shook his head. He looked at me curiously.

"Wait... what? I thought I wasn't supposed to talk about Jacob around you. Isn't he a touchy subject?"

I sighed. Whenever he talked about Jake, it hit a sensitive spot in the past, but now I honestly didn't care. I thought Edward would see I was way over him.

"Edward, I don't give a crap about him anymore. What I had with Jacob lasted a day. _A day_. To me, that's not even worth two weeks of hurt. It's time I move on to someone else," I beamed. Edward raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"There _are_ plenty of fish out in the sea, a billion of them good enough for you," he said like he was giving advice.

"Oh, really? Which species?" I asked teasingly. He set his mouth to ponder for a bit.

"Well.. I wouldn't take you as a shark. Emmett's more the shark type," he mused out loud.

"Let's stick to a hypothetical case," I suggested.

"Fine, let's call you Jane," he grinned. "Okay, Jane's the type of girl that I can see as... a dolphin."

"So my type would be a dolphin? Guy dolphins are good enough for me?" I inquired.

"We were speaking of a hypothetical case," he reminded me.

"Right," I remembered.

We were silent for a bit, but it was a comfortable silence, the kind of silence that I could bear with now that we were friends. I wanted to ask him what dolphins were like, and what were their characteristics. But that question would be way over line. It wouldn't even make sense. All of the sudden, an idea popped up in my head. Alice would be proud.

"So are... _you_... a dolphin?" I smirked. The faintest blush surfaced on his features.

"Sure," he finally answered. I smiled brightly, and looked out the window. Alexa's Z4 turned into the curb. Lilly wasn't kidding when she said the restauraunt was right around the corner. It literally was.

"We're here," I announced in a singsong voice. Edward laughed.

When we walked into Chilies, everything seemed normal at first. The indistinct chattering was like a pleasant humming in the background. We stood in line to reach the host's podium.

There were a group of girls my age, pointing and giggling at Edward. I stared at them angrily, throwing invisible laser beams from my eyes. The one in the middle smirked at her friends, and stood up. Her friends tinkled with "Oohs" on encouragement. I hissed under my breath, and stepped closer to him. Without thinking about it, I grabbed his hand and held it in mine. The girl glared at me, and sat down again. Her friends delivered equally vicious looks that would have sent a cold wave down my back, if I hadn't known Lauren. He turned at me with a suspicious look on his face, as he was staring at our interlocked fingers. But he made no motion to object.

"Care to explain yourself?" he smirked, swinging our arms. I beamed.

"You owe me. I was saving you the trouble of meeting yet another girl who thinks your cute."

"Another one?" he gasped in mock horror.

"The one in the middle, sitting behind me. With the leather boots and washed out skinny jeans. See her?"

"She's blond," he muttered with a sour edge to his voice. Now I was definitely confused.

"Most guys love blonde's," I stated suspiciously, narrowing my eyes at him. He shrugged.

"She's a strawberry blonde. Not at all my type. You know what, though?" he grinned crookedly, and leaned in towards me. My heartbeat accelerated as his sweet breath tickled my ear.

"I prefer brunettes."

"Next," the middle-aged host demanded in front, ruining the moment. He let our hands fall, and I grumbled. At least it wasn't one of those young workers who went gaga over Edward.

"Table for 6, please," I ordered.

"Sorry, sweet. I thought you would have been a table for two-er. We're full," the lady said in her heavy New York accent.

"Aww... that's too bad," Aaron said in disappointment, nudging Lilly. She frowned and her face fell, going with the charade. Everyone caught the mood immediately.

"And we were going to tip extra..." Alexa sighed. Steve pouted.

"Tip extra? Give me a break; I'm not falling for that. How much money do kids like you carry around? A twenty?" the woman scoffed. Steve had whipped out his over-stuffed wallet from his back pocket, fanning out the endless twenties like if nothing.

"All I have on me now is $678 in cash.. but I have loads more on my Amex," Steve grinned in anticipation. The lady's eyes widened, and her face went purple.

"You! You're Steve Lyons!" the woman shrieked, and her mouth fell open. The reception area got quiet, and so did the half front of the dining area.

"Took her long enough," Steve mumbled, as Aaron rolled his eyes. Lilly giggled.

"I'm sure we can make an exception. We can bring some tables together, enough for six. Right this way, please," she choked, taking six menus with her.

I couldn't understand the feeling that coursed through my veins in those moments. Wild. Unnerving. Giddy, almost. It made me feel powerful, like I was on top of the world. As we walked past, camera's flashed feverishly. Alexa, Steve, Lilly, and Aaron completely ignored the paparazzi-like attention, like they couldn't see any of the people. Sure, they were accustomed to limelight, but it was all new to me. Edward studied me carefully as I hunted for cameras, trying to smile at he right moments.

I finally felt famous.

**Short chapter, I know, but I wanted to update this weekend, before everyone gets back to school. Besides, the dinner part in my head would be pretty long. **

**A special announcement: I'm looking for a co-writer for a specific part I'm trying to write in my other fanfic, Secrets of an Heiress. I need someone who knows a lot about sports and can write football in description, because I don't know anything about the game AT ALL. (Even though my dad babbles about Johnny Unitis being the greatest quarterback of all time)**

**Please Review, even if you just say "Update soon!" If your an author, you know how it feels when you get reviews. If your not... well... it feels pretty good! :]**


	17. Just Push Play

**Sorry, I've had the worst case of writer's block I've had in my entire life. I really didn't want this chapter to suck! I hope it was worth the wait, though. **

**I dedicate this chapter, once again, to my beta, JessieLynn. I normally dont dedicate to any person this much but she's an exception. I sent her the chapter today, to be edited, and I asked her if she could edit it in less than a day. Well guess what? In less than an _hour _she sent it back to me edited. How awesome is that? :D **

**Song: Just Push Play - Aerosmith (Song obsession of the moment. This is one of the songs they play on the Rock n' Roll rollercoaster)**

I was still dazed as we sat down at the table. It was literally like a dream coming true, almost like in the cheesy Cinderella way. Needless to say, I was enjoying myself as everyone was complaining. Their voices created a buzz in the background after a while, but my mind still picked up the conversation.

"Shit," Aaron cussed after we had sat down, "Now the paps know we're in New York. I _knew _we should have stayed incognito."

"They're all roaming New York City looking for other celebs. It should take them an hour to get here, if any idiot reports us, and we'll be gone by then," Lilly said, looking at the situation through a different perspective. Alexa turned towards Steve to divert yet another flash of light. I studied her guilt-ridden expression with interest now, my eyes focusing on her for one second.

"But I'm sure they'll flock here fast when they find out I'm hanging with Lexi." Steve mumbled. "God, with all the publicity that new film's getting, Bridget and I are supposedly destined to throw Hollywood's grandest engagement party the second we turn 18. Alexa . . . I'm sorry." He ended up whispering; leaning only the slightest to lock gazes with her. The look inscribed in his eyes could only be described as nothing but pure adoration.

That shocked me. I could have sworn that Steve had his eyes on Bridget the other night during the pre-production meeting, but apparently I was wrong. The way he looked at Alexa. . . was like Emmett looking at Rosalie. Special.

"If Bridget were here, this stuff would make the front page. It would be like Brad Pitt going to dinner with Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston. At the same time," Aaron coughed.

"Shut _up_!" Lilly hissed. "People can hear if you talk loud enough!"

My attention drifted from the dinner table to the people surrounding us. Once again, I entered a trance-like state as I scanned the endless crowds of people gaping at us. They watched us in awe, as if we were some sort of race of super-human.

I could get used to this.

The waitress arrived, blurring out all the others for the moment. She was shaking, her pen rattling maddingly as she struggled for words. She tucked one strand of curly black hair behind her ear and began to speak.

"Hi. My names... uh... C-Caroline, and I'm your server. Whatcanigetyoutodrink?"

We had to ask her to slow down and repeat her question, and we filled in our orders. A look of bewilderment spread across the waitress's features as she scribbled down the orders frantically and stalked off. As I watched her retreating figure, I tried to discover the reason behind her strange expression, but made no avail to. I watched the crowds around her dreamily.

"Bella, I'm so sorry I brought you into this. I shouldn't have called so much attention to us. I-- Are you okay?" Steve asked. I sighed.

"It's okay Steve. I'm not upset, I'm fine," I assured him. His eyes narrowed at me in suspicion, and then they went wide as realization crossed his mind. He looked like he wanted to slap himself. My eyes wandered again nearly drunkenly.

"_Now_ I get it. First time with fame, right, Bella?" Lilly grinned knowingly. "It's fun. Feels good, doesn't it?" I smiled sheepishly.

"Yes, it kinda does." I laughed, pealing tinkles of happiness. Edward rolled his eyes at me and smirked.

I scrunched my face at him in a silent "What?" He just chuckled, and looked away. I tried to disregard him, in order to pick up track of conversation once more. Yet again I ignored everyone just to solve Edward's many annoying facial expressions. Typical.

"Enjoy it," Aaron said almost bitterly, "It runs out soon enough."

"What?" I retorted without thinking. I didn't understand the harsh tone set to the way he spoke.

"Nothing..." Steve said, the forcefulness evident in his voice. He narrowed his eyes to slits at Aaron, who nodded. I didn't want to force myself to recognize the signs in their silent conversation. Some things were just better left unknown.

"So, Edward, how many songs does Alex plan to torture us with?" Aaron inquired. Edward chuckled, running a hand through his hair. That strange pang went through my stomach at the motion.

"Actually, I don't really know. I'm guessing somewhere along the lines of two or three? Possibly four, but no more than that," he shrugged. Aaron let out a little groan.

"I'm going to spontaneously combust one of these days, and Alex will have no one to blame but himself," he huffed.

"Why would you _combust_?"

"Guess," he said, pointing to his stomach. We all laughed.

Our drinks came, but from a different server. This time it was a man, one with spiky blonde hair and familiar blue eyes. I gasped when I saw him. I had seen him before... but I couldn't remember where. I was having major Déjà Vu.

"Mike?" Edward asked in confusion. The memories flooded back to me, and I wished that they hadn't. Pervy Mike, from P.F. Changs. His eyes skitted from Edward to me and back. They widened when they took in my face, but he otherwise ignored us.

"Are you guys ready to order?" he smiled naturally, not looking the least bit nervous or uptight as our other server had been.

After he took our orders, he began to stalk off. I wasn't having that. I grabbed him by the arm forcefully, locking him in place. He wasn't leaving unless he gave us some answers.

"Mike from P.F. Changs? What are you doing at Chilies?" I demanded. Understanding washed through his face, and then it turned to the color scarlet. He gave me a stone hard glare.

"I quit," he gritted through his teeth, stuffing his notepad in his pocket. Last time I remembered, he was being a perv towards me, not an unfriendly jerk.

"Why?" Edward had the courage to ask him, his lips turned up into a half-smirk, as if trying to hold back a snicker. He was having fun.

"Ask your friend Alice," he spat, walking away with our orders. I blinked.

Edward and I burst into laughter, and I was literally falling out of my seat. I put my left arm on his shoulder and my face fell into it. Edward had to put his elbow on the table for support, burying his face in hands. _Alice! _

"Someone care to explain?" Lilly asked curiously, after we had regained our breath and sat up again.

We explained to her about how we had met Mike back in P.F Changs at Westchester, and Edward threw in the part where he was checking me out. Apparently, Alice had been serious about making a complaint. We lingered more on Alice's personality, and ended up talking about her. Somewhere around that time, yet another server came out with our food. It seemed like everyone on the staff wanted to get a closer look at the young group of Hollywood's most exclusive.

"Hahah!" Aaron laughed, craning his neck to see if Mike would be in view. I guessed by the decrease of his energy level, he wasn't.

"Wow, I like this Alice girl. She's your friend right?" Lilly inquired. I nodded, smiling a bit at the mention of her name. Of course-- everyone loved Alice.

"It would be cool to meet her. She sounds like a lot of fun," Alexa mused out loud, talking more to herself than she was talking to me. I looked at Edward, hesitating. He grinned knowingly, anticipating the words I was about to say.

"Well, Alice is actually having a party at the dorm this Friday. You're welcome to come, if you're not busy. I'm sure she wants to meet you guys too," I lifted a hand to assess Steve and Aaron. They looked at each other for a second, and then nodded.

"If we're coming, you might want amp up your security on the building, unless you want some unexpected visitors," Aaron smirked.

"That can be arranged," I smiled.

After we had finished eating, another worker had picked up our food. Yet another dropped off the receipt, and a different one picked it up. I wouldn't be surprised if the chef suddenly came out to find out how we were doing. Or bake us cookies for dessert.

"Look, Aaron," Lilly beamed at him triumphantly as we walked out the door of Chilies, interlocking her arm in his as they walked side by side. "No paparazzi."

"Spoke too soon, Newman," a deep voice said menacingly behind us. I saw a light go off, accentuating our shadow on the sidewalk.

Suddenly we were completely swarmed by flashing lights, ones that were a million times brighter than the ones inside the restaurant; ones who flashes actually hurt my eyes and blinded me. The corners of my eyes throbbed dark bruises of black and blue. I clung to Edward tightly, panicking because I couldn't see. He wrapped one arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him. He led us in a direction that I presumed was his car. Voices revolved around me, so many that I couldn't understand what they were saying. I did decode a few, though.

"Hey, who are you, girl?"

"Who's this kid?"

"Are you Steve's mystery girl?"

"Are you two together?"

"How about this tall one? What's your name?"

"Never seen him before."

"Give me something, you two!"

"Look here!"

"Alexa? Steve? Where's Bridget?"

"Are you reality-show taggers?"

Suddenly the voices disappeared, muffled by the car. I closed my eyes, not wanting to be unleashed to the full intensity of the lights.

"Bella, are you okay?" Edward asked me as he started the car. I whimpered.

"Ow." I said, rubbing my eyes.

"It's okay to open them now, they're behind us."

"You sure?" I asked, keeping them shut tight. He reached over to extract one of my hands from my eyelids.

"Positive."

The light throbbed around my eyes like I was having a head rush. I felt the beat of my neck pulse against my ears loudly. My eyes adjusted to be met by a dark road. Fortunately, I caught no sign of them.

"Wow. That was crazy." I gasped in a half laugh, the adrenaline pulsating in my veins.

"I had to look up to avoid the lights, since I needed to lead you. It was insane," he agreed, clutching the steering wheel with both hands again.

"That would be something. All of us on the cover of People and you're the only guy looking up like there's a camera in heaven," I giggled. He chuckled.

"Do you _like _the flash?"

"It was definitely . . . interesting. I felt like I was walking through one of my paparazzi-filled dreams, only the flash actually hurt me," I said, pondering the depth of my reactions.

His lips twitched. "I had better get used to it too, come to think of it."

"You should consider it," I beamed. He ruffled my hair playfully with one hand, and then placed it back on the steering wheel.

"Are you planning to inform Alice about the attendance of a few extra guests?" he decided to remind me, keeping his eyes glued to the road as he sped up at a stale green light.

"She's going to go ballistic," I laughed, and rolled my eyes. I would wait until he dropped me off at the dorm to inform her.

Alice was ecstatic, of course. She screamed for a total of five minutes straight until Rosalie came out grumbling from her room. Then they jumped up and down together. As they settled down, they both whipped out their phones. Typical.

"Guys, try not to tell the world," I hissed. It would be madness if the paps crashed the party; I didn't even want to think of all the commotion it would cause. Briarwood was a school for aspiring artists. Give them a papparazzo from _Us _weekly and they would do _anything _to get their photo in an issue.

"Oh I know," Rosalie said brightly. "But can't I tell Emmett?"

"That's... negotiable. Jasper and Emmett. No one else! I can't afford telling Angie, cause Ben can't keep a secret for his life," I huffed, plopping myself on the couch. Alice darted to her room to scream freely, while Rosalie tried to wake Emmett up with incessant pleading. I could hear him snoring loudly on the line. Poor Rose.

"Guess I should call Briarwood security," I muttered, and picked up my phone to dial.

-

-

"What do you think, Bella? Will Alexa like it?" Alice pouted, turning around 360 in the shopping room party was, ironically, Hollywood-cocktail themed. I was planning on buying a cute dress at Forever, but that would be committing suicide. Alice insisted on taking a trip to Nordstrom to find our dresses. I didn't even bother to complain about it anymore.

She sported a black D&G Bustier number, which literally looked designed for her. It was totally flattering.

"Of course she'll like it! Don't be surprised if Jasper suddenly falls down drooling either. You look amazing!" I squealed, trying my best to sound like her. She beamed at my enthusiasm.

"Okay, okay. Try this on," she laughed, stuffing an article of clothing into my hands. I strolled into the dressing room.

I snuck a look at the dress before I put it on. And I almost passed out on the spot. And not because of the price, though it was over the top. The grand total? 1,495 dollars. No, I didn't mind _that. _

It was the actual _dress. _Okay, so it was cute, but not at all for the occasion. The dress was disgustingly tacky for a cocktail party. It was a chiffon, cheetah spotted-ish silk sleeveless number, and unlike anything I had ever seen.

I stepped out of the dressing room, wondering whatever possessed her to pick it out.

"Wow, it looks great!" she grinned. That did it.

I looked at her in horror. "There is no way in hell that I'm wearing this," I announced firmly, completely unwavering. I didn't bother to hide my disgust.

Then she surprised me by laughing so hard, she needed to put her hands on her knees for support. "You . . . you . . ." she giggled. "You're not wearing this for the party. I'm just buying it for you because I thought it would look great on your figure.

"Now take it off, and put this,"--she gave me another dress-- "on." I took a peek at what she pressed into my hands. I gasped.

God, I loved Ralph Lauren.

-

-

When we got back to the dorm, Alice fleeted quicker than I expected to take care of some finishing arrangements to the party. The dorm was almost fully decorated; all that was left were a couple of things here and there, the food, and a DJ, which was due to arrive in around 2 hours. Leave it to Alice to forget the food.

So I whipped out my cell for the umpteenth time to dial Edward. I plopped myself on the couch.

"Hey, Bella. What's up?"

"I'm bored," I drawled, rolling to my other side. I heard him chuckle on the line. We had this conversation several times a day.

"What do you want to talk about?" he inquired. I scrunched my nose.

"Oh, I don't know," I sighed. "What are you wearing to the party?"

He paused. "A . . . suit. I think. Or is it a tux? I can't tell," he grumbled impatiently, as if he had been thinking about the subject for quite some time. I laughed.

"Who's the designer?" I teased.

"I—er . . . Nordstrom."

"John Nordstrom or is it from the store Nordstrom?"

"There's a difference?"

"According to Alice there is."

So we talked for a while, trying to make a decent conversation, expressing our boredom openly. It was only when I heard Alice fumbling with her keys outside that we decided to hang up. I got up from the couch to help Alice lug in endless bags of food, and then add the finishing touches to the decorations.

She really outdid herself this time. When we finished our work, the dorm room looked exactly like Element on a James Sinclair Tuesday night.

The DJ came in less than thirty minutes after, to get set up. We both got dressed quickly, hurrying in time to do our hair and makeup. I dabbed on some long lasting Urban Decay lip gloss and with the works, praying to God it came out alright. My hair was okay pin-straight, wasn't it?

Alice looked absolutely amazing in her dress, and I appreciated the chance to look at her full out, with eyelashes and deep red lip gloss. She scanned over my outfit, and the last minute, she decided to amp up my look by curling my hair. Well, the hair issue was resolved.

My head spun in excitement, the pre-party hosting jitters kicking in as I heard the first knock on the door.

"Are you okay, Bella?" Alice looked in my face for any trace of boredom or dopiness I usually carried with me during these kind of occasion. I nodded as Alice turned the knob.

"I'm fine," I lied. It _felt_ like a lie.

Because why else would I get the nagging feeling something major was going to happen?

**I know the cliffy sucks, but that was the only place where I could end the chapter. Please don't bite me! :'(**

**By the way, for those of you who are looking for a totally pwnsome and twilight-obsessive-like book to read, I suggest reading Maximum Ride – The Angel Experiment by James Patterson. The fifth book comes out in only TWO DAYS! AHH!!! (**_**And **_**it's going to be a movie in 2010. :DDD)**

**Don't forget to read my other fanfic, Secrets of an Heiress, if you haven't already. It's just lying there waiting for people to read. (For those of you who have read the story, I'm sorry for the delay. I've written three versions of the chapter, but they all weren't good enough. So I have a little surprise for you guys next chapter, which in my opinion will _definitely _make it more intresting.) :D**

**Review!**


	18. Our Only Hope

**Party chapter. :]**

**Chapter song: Only Hope – Switchfoot (For those of you who refuse to listen to all things Mandy Moore, this one's for you. Also, even if you heard the Mandy Moore version of this song, I highly suggest listening to this one.) **

"Charlotte! Peter! Garrett! Kate!" Alice exclaimed, clapping her hands together and pulling the two girls in for a hug. The two guys stood awkwardly, watching the scene carefully. I ushered them in.

"Wow this looks so cool!" Charlotte giggled, looking all around her. She tugged on Alice's arm ditzily.

I rolled my eyes. _These_ were the people that I was expecting at the party?

In no time the crowd was coming in, studying the ambience and chatting. It was still too early to dance. The DJ had started out with slow party songs like "Promiscuous" and "Drop It like It's Hot." I texted Steve telling him that the party started at seven thirty and would be in full swing by nine. People liked being fashionably late, but the party would officially start sometime before Steve and everyone else were due to arrive. I requested him to call me right before he came in, so I could alert the DJ to be on the lookout.

The door was always left creaked open, inviting guests to come in. But, of course, Edward, Emmett, and Jasper knocked anyway. It was a good thing I was right next to the door, or I wouldn't have heard them.

"Hey, guys," I greeted as I let them in. I inspected each of them. Jasper looked _really_ nice; his grey suit worked well. Emmett was…well…Emmett. He modeled a blue plaid Freeman number. Of course.

I left Edward for last. And I had good reason too.

His Nordstrom tux, yes it was a tux, was totally mind-boggling. No one had the right to look so amazingly perfect; it just wasn't human. But Edward was Edward.

His eyes widened as he took me in surprise, emerald eyes brimmed with a sort of wonder in them. He cleared his throat before he began to speak.

"W-wow," he stuttered, blushing red.

"Hi," I managed to say while I had the satisfaction of watching his eyes bulge.

"You look great," he complimented, gesturing to my dress, but then he quickly stuffed his hand in his pocket. It looked like the flattery was over, unfortunately. He was cute when he was embarrassed.

"Umm... thanks." I bit my lip. Suddenly Emmett "oohed" and Jasper punched his arm, pulling him a bit away as I glared at the both of them.

"Bella?" A voice called. I turned around and saw a jaw-dropping Rosalie smile innocently at me. I heard Emmett choking on air.

She modeled a beautiful nectar-colored Maggy London tiered chiffon dress; the very dress I was considering buying at the store this afternoon. Now I knew why Alice had insisted on my flowing blue, Ralph Lauren number.

"Wow, Rose. You look great!" I exclaimed. Emmett coughed.

"Thanks. I was about to ask for your opinion," she laughed. Emmett coughed again.

"Do you need a cough drop, Em?" Rosalie said sweetly. He shook his head, and walked away, taking Jasper and Emmett with him. I had a feeling he didnt want to let Rose see him blush; it wasnt very manly.

I found it hilarious.

Edward excused himself for a moment as he walked red-faced to see Jasper and Emmett. I wished him luck.

For the next ten minutes, I tried to sound upbeat; like a hostess. People responded to me enthusiastically, but the only topic they would talk about was my instant fame. I smiled and nodded, feeling a bit uncomfortable. That was when Edward swooped in to save me from the small talk with the guests.

After that, Edward never left my side. We were always parading around, sharing dances with Angie, Ben, Tyler, Alice, Emmett, and a couple of other people.

Edward and I were halfway dancing through "The Way I Are", when the beginning slide of "Let it Rock" interrupted Nelly Furtado's singing. People looked at the DJ in confusion, but he just grinned at all of them. He caught my eye and winked at me, jutting his chin out to the door. I looked at the doorway, and sure enough, there they were. All four—no five! -- of them. Alexa, Steve, Lilly, Aaron, _and_ Kristen. Looking at them stand in the doorway was exactly like watching a movie-poster come to life-- surreal.

I nudged Edward on the arm so he could follow me. I walked to the door, awaiting the guests' reaction. I heard one girl gasp near me, but no one seemed to notice.

"Hey! Glad you could make it!" I greeted, gesturing them in.

"I hope you don't mind that we brought Kristen. She wanted to tag along," Steve asked shyly.

"Of course not! Now I can get to know you better." I beamed brightly at her. She laughed. I kissed Alexa, Lilly, and Kristen on the cheek politely.

Just then, a girl screamed loudly, pointing at us with her hand over her mouth, knees shaking. Everyone immediately stopped dancing; staring at the doorway with their jaws dropped open.

"She didn't tell anyone you guys were coming. It's a bit of a surprise for everyone." Edward muttered lowly, giving Aaron and Steve each guy hugs.

"Now we can finally start playing the good songs," I laughed, leading them to the middle of the dance floor.

_Because when I arrive_

_I-I bring the fire_

_Make you come alive_

_I can take you higher_

_What this is, forgot?_

_I must now remind you_

_Let it Rock_

_Let it Rock_

_Let it Rock_

Alexa threw her hands up in the air with Lilly and Kristen following in unison. We all sang to the rest of the song jumping up and down during every chorus and having a blast. Our energy eventually inspired everybody else to stop staring and to dance along.

"Just let it rock!" Steve yelled in Alexa's ear loudly and she screamed, laughing and punching him on the arm. He threw his arm around her shoulder, and she nuzzled her cheek into his hand.

"I thought you guys were trying to keep the relationship incognito?" Aaron narrowed his eyes at Steve, but otherwise kept on dancing.

"So sue me for dancing with my girlfriend," Steve replied, bringing her head closer to him so he could kiss her hair. I felt Edward stiffen besides me.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing, why?" he smiled. I could have sworn . . .

"Ju-- never mind." I replied, shrugging it off.

"Bella!" I heard a voice call. I spun backwards, just in time to see an excited-looking Alice grab my elbow. It took me a second of reading her expression to figure out what she wanted.

"Oh, hey Alice," I said loudly, cocking my head slightly towards the circle so everyone could hear my greeting.

"Alice?" Alexa gasped.

"Alice who got Mike fired from P.F. Changs Alice?" Aaron inquired. All the attention went to her, but her face went as white as a ghost's. Edward nudged me, and I laughed.

"You know Mike?" she gasped, and looked like all she wanted was to disappear.

"No, not really. He was our waiter at Chilies, and he said you got him fired. Nice move, by the way. He sounded like an ass," Aaron chuckled. Alice breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nice to meet you then." she grinned.

Lilly and Alexa started chatting with Alice animatedly about clothes, so I just moved away from the circle to let them have their own conversation.

"It's was nice of you to invite Alice in like that. She was watching from the sidelines all night," Edward spoke in my ear lowly. I shrugged, trying to hide the fact my heart was beating nearly audibly at his closeness.

As Kevin Rudolf faded, people started to jump up and down. The DJ spun out Lil John's introduction to Pitbull's "Crazy". My successful Floridian step-cousin, Ariella, **(*COUGH!!!* If you've read my other fanfic.)** introduced me to the song when my mother, Phil, and I visited his sister in Miami. Ariella was a 21-year-old with a 12 year old mind. She would most likely jam out to "El Negra Tiene Tumbao" in the middle of Calle Ocho with a couple of old, pastelito making Cubanitas. Thus, the source of her almost worship-worthy connection with Pitbull.

A circle was being formed with a mysterious person in the middle. People started to crowd, craning their necks to see what all the commotion was about. I nudged Edward again, and we started to make our way through the crowd.

And there was Ben Cheney, leaning into a one handed handstand, thrashing his legs around like a pro. With his right hand, he tilted his 305 cap to the side. It definitely topped off his Oscar-worthy outfit.

Everybody started clapping to the beat, swaying left and right. By the time he left the circle, Edward and I had weaved our way through the people, trying to get the best view of him. I pouted.

But that pout transformed into an "O" of surprise when I felt someone shoving me from behind. People were smiling at me-- from all angles. Suddenly, I was the center of attention. As I caught a familiar figure in my perhipial vision, I realized I wasn't the only one in the spotlight.

_Latinas they get crazy _

_Blanquitas they get crazy_

_  
Negritas they get crazy_

_Yo Mama she gets crazy _

_Now jump up let's get crazy, now jump up let's get crazy . . ._

I spun around to grab Edwards's palms, and we started to salsa dance. The way we were dancing didn't go with the song, but I hardly cared.

_Sube sube sube_

_Sube el volumen!_

_Sube sube sube_

_Sube el volumen!_

Suddenly, I felt the sensation of going up. I stifled a gasp of surprise. Instead of looking up to meet gazes, I was looking down at Edward smiling maddingly the entire time. He was crazy; he had lifted me off the floor!

"Aah!" I screamed, clinging to his shoulders. I was scared that I was going to fall.

To make matters worse, he spun me around and around, slowly setting me down as if I was falling down a spiraling staircase. We exited the circle.

"That was…" I drank in a much needed breath of air, "fun."

"We might need to do it again some time," he winked. I felt like melting again. His playful expression faded as he took a protective step in front of me. I looked past him to see who was coming our way.

"Heeeey guys." Emmett drawled, sounding completely wasted. No one had spiked the drinks, that I knew of. Maybe he was high on air? **(Cough cough. Lol.)**

I caught view of a pair of enormous sunglasses perched on his nose, and I laughed.

"Emmett, what the hell are you wearing?" Edward chuckled Emmett adjusted his mega-ultra gigantic-sized sunglasses so they wouldn't fall off.

"One of Alice's party perks. Everyone's scourging them. You guys should hurry up and get them before they run out." he suggested, patting Edward on the back before he waddled off.

He was definitely drunk; Alice didn't have "party perks."

Periodically, I checked the time on my cell. Before I knew it, four hours had passed. It seemed impossible, but my cell didn't lie.

That kind of saddened me. I didn't want the party to end. The DJ started to play "Just Dance," which would likely end up to be the last song. I frowned.

_Red Wine..._

_Gaga_

"I'll be right back," Edward said in my ear, leaving me alone for the first time tonight. I shivered unwillingly at the revelation.

I just stood there stupidly for a couple of moments before I looked around for people. I walked across the room where I saw Aaron perched against the wall, looking for someone to talk to.

"Hey." he greeted.

"Hey, what's up?"

Aaron looked at me and snorted softly. Then he smiled. "This is seriously one of the best parties I've ever been to," he sighed, looking back at the ceiling dreamily. My eyes widened.

That was unexpected. "Liar." I chuckled, trying to dispel my revealing expression.

"No, really. Believe it or not, those Golden Globe after parties are a drag. _This_," he gestured to everything in front of us, "Is a party. Not an event I'm dragged to in order to keep my image."

"Believe it or not, that's hard to believe." I smirked. He cast one more smile at me, and then walked away.

I looked around the dorm to catch any glimpse of Edward, but I got none. I exhaled, and took Aaron's place at the wall. Funny how that worked out, huh?

Then my eyes locked on Edward's serious figure at the DJ booth. He felt my gaze, and suddenly looked up at me. A slow smile spread across his face, gliding along like melting butter. My head spun.

The DJ stood next to him, sliding down a key on his board. Lady Gaga faded out, and everything turned silent. People started to murmur wildly, casting glances towards the DJ. What was going on?

Then Edward sauntered towards me with two mics in his hand, his expression hopeful. All I saw was him. I clutched the spare microphone in my palms, the one he held out for me. His eyes twinkled.

He was unbelievable.

"This one's for you," he said softly, diverting the microphone away from his mouth so it wouldn't pick up his words. I didn't know what to say.

A familiar melody filled the air, and I gasped in recognition. Though it sounded a lot different, I knew it all the same. I wanted to sing along, but my mouth refused to. So it surprised me when someone else began to sing.

_There's a song that's inside of my soul_

_It's the one that I've tried to write over and over again_

_I'm awake in the infinite cold_

_But you sing to me over and over and over again_

_So I lay my head back down_

_And I lift my hands and pray to be only yours_

_I pray to be only yours_

_I know now_

_You're my only hope._

"Edward..." I choked, as my eyes started to water. I sniffled.

"Sing with me. You know how it goes." he smiled. A flash of an unspoken thought flew through his eyes. The way he looked at me... I felt empowered to sing along. He entered with a second voice, while I stuck to the melody.

_Sing to me the song of the stars_

_Of your galaxy dancing and laughing and laughing again_

_When it feels like my dreams are so far_

_Sing to me of the plans that you have for me over again_

_So I lay my head back down_

_And I lift my hands and pray to be only yours_

_I pray to be only yours_

_I know now, you're my only hope._

He took hold of my hand, and we started slowly walking across the room. There were no words to describe how I felt right then and there.

_I give you my destiny_

_I'm giving you all of me_

_I want your symphony _

_Singing in all that I am_

_At the top of my lungs_

_I'm giving back_

_So I lay my head back down_

_And I lift my hands and pray_

_To be only yours _

_I pray to be only yours_

_I pray to be only yours_

_I know now, you're my only hope._

_Mmm, mmm mmm mmm_

_Ooooooh._

It was eerily silent for a second, and the next, the room was brimmed with loud applause. Unconsciously, I wrapped my arms around Edward to envelope him in a firm hug. I smiled into his chest.

"Thank you so much, it was beautiful," I said in a quivery voice, feeling lightheaded. I sniffled again.

"Thank _you_ for creating the song in the first place," he said in my ear. His breath tickled, and I turned my head slightly away from him to elude the weird feeling.

"Do you want to go outside?" I suggested as he let me go.

"I'm up for anything."

**Woo! This chapter took forever. Review :]**


	19. Inspiration

**Fast update, right? Well, for me it is. I couldn't disappear for another two months without updating, lol.**

**Chapter song: (I seriously wanted to put some Phantom of the Opera in here. Consider yourselves lucky.)**

**The Quiet – We The Kings. If you've ever heard to this song, I think you have a pretty clear understanding of what this chapter's going to be about . . . hehehe.**

**(Beta was all for Phantom too. ^__^)**

I walked outside the dorm and across the dewy grass, inhaling deeply and trying to calm my tingling nerves, which were pulsating wildly. It was crazy, I shouldn't feel like this; it was so out of the norm.

"You wanna sit down here?" Edward asked. I barely heard what he said, so when I picked up on his voice, I had already paused a moment too long. He mistook it for hesitation.

"Or are you afraid to get wet?" he teased. The look in his eyes was daring, and it pressed me. I scoffed and sat down just to make a point out of it. He slid down next to me, smiling.

"So..." I trailed off.

"So?"

I shook my head. I looked at him in disbelief, my head trying to absorb all of the dizzying calculations, but nothing added up.

Not that this topic came up in every kind of conversation and would ruin everything, but I was compelled to ask the question again. "How... I mean, how did you complete a NEW song so quickly? It doesn't make sense."

A bit of light left his eyes, as he processed my words. He was always eager to answer anything about music. Still, he frowned. "It always comes down to the same question, doesn't it?" he muttered lowly, so low that I actually had to strain my ear to hear him.

"Let me rephrase that. I don't really mean HOW, I guess it's possible. But... I don't know... why? Why did you commit to doing my song in the first place?"

Now he was grinning. "Easy. You're my friend, and I helped you."

"No..." I said slowly, "We weren't friends when you discovered my voice. As it is, I barely did anything. _You_ wrote the rest of the lyrics and the chorus. _You_ made the effects. _You_ showed me this whole new version tonight. I want to know why you care." I felt like I was digging at something important because his eyes flashed oddly for a moment-- an expression I had never seen before-- but then the next it was gone. He was wearing the poker-face again.

He kept his head down, obscuring his face from my view. He didn't say anything for endless seconds, but I knew something was on his mind. I waited impatiently as I listened to the sound of the crickets chirping. After a while, he turned his face slightly to reveal a determined expression, slightly marred by the light blush that stained his cheeks.

"At the beginning, I had no idea why I cared. I just needed to help you-- it was all I knew to do. It's what I wanted to do.

"I guessed it was because I was so into my music, and I thought that what you started out with had the ability to be so much more. So I cared.

"But, when I was writing the lyrics... my God. You have no _idea_ how much I poured out into that song. It wasn't just planned or forced, like it normally is. It kind of just flowed out. That's never happened before to me. I've never _cared_ so much about a piece.

And every time I was stuck on something, or I had messed up, or I had gone out of tune, I used my inspiration. It's what's been keeping me going on for a while. Not just in our song, but my whole, messed up life right now. And, for the first time since my parents' deaths," he took up a thoughtful expression, "I'm starting to feel happier."

As he went along with his speech, he had gotten closer to me. It was hard concentrating on his voice when he was like this. Right now, our sides were touching. My chest gave an audible leap.

"What's your inspiration?" I murmured lowly, unsure of what I was saying. I could barely see, because my eyelids were throbbing hues of black and blue-- thanks to my abnormal heartbeat. Edward wasn't helping, because he leaned in to whisper in my ear. When I turned to face him in surprise, I felt our cheeks touch. _That_ set my heart beating as fast as helicopter wings.

"You." he said softly, almost as if caressing the word. I almost ran away screaming right there, my adrenaline was so high. Yet, I felt a sense of yearning warmth enter my chest at his words, burning away my heartbeat rapidly. It was insane.

He tenderly cupped my face in his palm, looking at me with his smoldering emerald eyes. I was breathing so hard, I didn't know how much more I could take. I closed my eyes in desperation, and then he kissed me.

I had lost all sense of thought at this point, when I put my arms around him in craving. I stomped all over my terror and languish and longing and confusion and desperation... and let the moment keep its peace. As soon as I overcame my brimming emotions, all I felt was Edward, our breathing, and my bliss. I didn't think life got any better than this. I laced my fingers into his hair hungrily, taking short gasps whenever I could. I felt like I was burning so brightly that everyone in every dorm on campus could see the flame coming from within me.

Thankfully, the flame was all inside of my head; that would have really sucked.

As we stretched on endlessly, our kisses gradually decreased in level, and I found myself cuddled into his chest. He had his arm wrapped protectively around me. I smiled to myself, totally absorbed into my bubble.

I took a little peek to see Edward's expression and I felt my head swim, even after what we had just done. He was smiling.

That was enough to send a pang through my heart and make me wonder what I ever did to deserve... all of it. Him. My luck. Fame. Love. _Everything_.

"Do you know what we look like right now?" I practically slurred, half dreaming. That was exactly how it felt like; a cruel dream, threatening to wake me up.

"Hmmm...?" he sighed, pulled out of some long train of thought. His eyes glistened in wonder as he looked at me.

I wrinkled my nose, trying to find a way to make this sound serious. "You know, just by the way we're dressed, it kind of reminds me of an episode of Gossip Girl."

He blinked once in confusion, and then he burst into laughter. I guessed I kind of knew where he was coming from, so I giggled with him. When he regained himself, he sat up, taking me with him.

"You're unbelievable, you know that?" he smirked. I smiled as he took me into a firm hug, keeping me there for a while before we went inside.

When Alice gasped as she saw Edward's hand at the small of my back at the party, I suddenly remembered what I was scared of.

"Y-you!" she accused, staring open-mouthed me. She gaped at Edward as if she had seen him for the first time. He pulled me close to him, sensing my distress.

"Um, hi Alice…" I mumbled.

"And where was I when..._THIS _happened?" she said hotly, expression turned into a surprised rage. I didn't know how to answer her, so I just kept silent. I shifted to my other foot in desperation.

Then Edward spoke. "You," he said simply, "were gone."

Edward and I faced each other for endless moments; just looking at each other. I heard Alice rambling endlessly next to me, but her voice oddly disappeared into background buzz in the span of only a few seconds. I felt like I was suddenly thrown into West Side Story. My vision was totally blurred except for my view of Edward. All I saw was him.

By the time he kissed me again, we had already completely disappeared into our own little world.

And that was that.

**AHHHHH!! Sorry. Random outburst. :)**

**Short chapter, but it's the one you've been waiting for. So that shouldn't matter, right? You people should also know that things get VERY complicated from now on. I can't wait to see how you take it. :D **

**And if you thought it was getting complicated before—you'll have plenty of fun later on. The movie thing is barely even half of it. Things can't be that easy...**

**Review! (If you don't, my beta will personally hunt you down. lol!)**


	20. Only the Beginning

**Long update, I know. I went on vacation and didn't write much, plus I had writers block from before, as I mentioned to my SOAH readers. Sorry I didn't respond to some reviews—the service sucked where I went. But now I got back from vacation, and I got hit by some inspiration. Finally! I could have updated yesterday, but I wanted to wait till today to update because today this fanfic officially turns one year old. Whoo!! :D **

**And THANK YOU to my awesome beta, JL. She Beta-ed this the hour after I gave it to her, when I told her I needed it today for its 1-year-anniversary. She's the best beta eveerrr!! :)**

_**Cause now we're making headlines, primetime, saying, 'What a story.' Billboards, packed tours, don't forget. You can try to break us, and make us fall apart, but the fires in our hearts. Reminisce on memories 'cause were gone. **_

**Hollywood – Jonas Brothers**

**(Have you HEARD their new album? It's called Lines, Vines, and Trying Times. AMAZING! I personally think Nick Jonas is a truly gifted musician who doesn't get much recognition other than being the cutest. Hellooo... he's not only hot and can sing like an angel, but he's mastered the drums, the guitar, the piano, the glockenspiel, and he is the only JoBro who writes solo. JoBro haters, you might say he wears tight pants, but don't tell me this kid doesn't have major talent.)**

**Sorry about that, but I get very defensive when it comes to Nick Jonas. I am also dedicating this chapter to him for being such a great person to look up to. He's inspired me soooo much as a musician and a songwriter. Whenever I get stuck on writing a song, I think of how Nick has been writing since he was six. Nick's multi-instrumental talent amazes me. Read on. :)**

**-**

**-**

The morning after the party, I received a call from Elizabeth inviting me to lunch. I felt that it was a little strange, because I knew that if she needed to tell me something, she would just tell me over the phone. And I knew that she didn't want to make casual conversation, because I knew that our relationship wasn't heading in _that_ direction. We were both faking smiles left and right and it was apparent that our dislike for each other was mutual.

So something big had to be up.

My sidekick vibrated in my pocket. I sighed, wondering how ironic it could be if it was her, but when I checked the caller ID, I felt shocked for a fraction of a second. Then I squealed when I felt it vibrate again. I heard Alice and Rose giggle as they appeared at the door.

"Edward?" Rosalie laughed. I put a finger to my lips and pressed talk.

"Hello?" I said nervously.

"Hey, Bella." he greeted on the other line and I smiled.

"Hey."

"Ummm . . . Bella . . ." he trailed off and I heard him gulp.

My mind immediately went haywire with all of the endless possibilities, nightmares and protruding thoughts out of habit. I had never heard Edward sound like that. What if he decided he didn't want me? What if he realized I wasn't good enough for him? What if he thought it was a one-night thing? What if he was like Jacob, a player, and he had been leading me on this entire time? And now he was going to reject me?

Then, I laughed at my ridiculous stream of thoughts. I seriously needed to get a hold of myself. Edward had hesitated for one short second, and I was thinking about how he would reject me still. Maybe I overreacted because things weren't really settled. He hadn't _officially_ asked the question and I wasn't sure if he remembered exactly what happened last night because I was half-drunk and I wasn't in the right mind to tell if he was too.

"Bella, you there?" Edward said nervously. I could tell by the tremors in his voice, I was so busy thinking that I misjudged how long the silence lasted.

"I'm here," I said bravely now that I was sure of myself. "What's wrong?"

He was silent for another second, then I heard Emmett scream "BRO! DON'T BE SUCH A PUSSY!" from the other line. I burst into laughter, putting an arm around my stomach and falling back first on my bed. Alice and Rose gave me concerned looks.

"Fuck off, Emmett." I heard him growl as I tried to withhold my laughter.

"What is it, Edward?" I finally said when I heard him talk again. He cleared his throat.

"So, I was thin—no. Uhh . . . what are you doing today?" he stuttered.

"Well, at twelve I have lunch with Elisa, but I'm free after that." I said slowly.

"Oh, really? Cool. Umm.. So later I--"

"Are you trying to ask me out?" I said brightly, not thinking about what I was saying. I just blurted it out as I mentally slapped myself. Then I hung on to the phone to hear his response.

"You caught me." he said, with a smile in his voice. My heart pounded. "So, since you're free later on, do you want to go to Flemings?"

I felt a shock. I was getting used to having people buy me expensive clothes, hair treatments, and furniture, but food? "Flemmings? Are you for real?"

"Well, it is our first date and I wanted to make it special." he said coolly. I swooned. **(Quick AN, I don't understand why Stephenie didn't use the word "swoon" much in Twilight. It was soooo obvious that Bella swooned whenever she saw Edward. She kept on re-describing his perfectly angular face. Lol.) **_**(Beta completely agrees, plus, doesn't that word just sound so cool?)**_

"So is that a yes?" he asked with a hint of concern under his voice. It was weird how a second ago he sounded so uneasy, and now he was so calm and collected.

"S-sorry, I just spaced out for a second. Of course I'll go with you tonight." I said in a rush. Adrenaline was pulsing fast in my neck and I hoped he couldn't hear that on the other line.

"Great. I have to go, 'cause Emmett's on my case, but I'll pick you up at seven, okay?"

"Okay," I grinned. "Bye."

"Bye." He stayed on the line. I chewed my lip as the seconds dragged on.

I listened to him breathing for a total of twenty seconds before hanging up in the midst of giddiness and excitement. He had waited for _me_ to hang up and though I knew it was a little thing, it made me even happier.

I took my pillow and screamed into it, thrashing my legs around like an idiot. I probably looked like I was insane, too. But I didn't care. I was going on a date with _Edward Cullen_. After a night of making out, I knew that I shouldn't be acting this way because, compared to that, this shouldn't be a big deal, but it was.

Then _they _pounced on me. Alice and Rose took as much out of my reaction as possible as I tried to keep my answers satisfying. I didn't go into deep details, like how he waited for me to hang up. I thought it was best to keep that to myself.

After squealing and gossiping for a good hour and a half, I departed for lunch. I was curious to see what Elisa cooked up for me this time.

I remembered that one day, over the phone, she had told me that she wanted me to be closer to Jacob, because it made good press. I had basically ignored her comment, so I kept on hating Jake and sprouting my friendship with Edward. She couldn't do much to keep me from what I wanted to do because she was my publicist and manager and I could fire her at any time, even though Alex, Devon and company supplied her for me. I knew she was on their payroll, but I should have a say in who my manager was. Elisa had been doing a great job so far, but if these little suggestions turned into demands, I had to do something. I read in books and saw in movies that some managers went over-the-line with this publicity stuff.

I hoped that all that fictional Hollywood stuff people talked about didn't happen in real life, or else I was screwed. I tended to say things without thinking about them, and in a world where whatever you said was quoted, you couldn't mess up.

I faced the host and sighed. All in all, I had a pretty bad feeling about meeting with Elisa this time. "Reservation for Dowling, party of two. She should already be seated by now."

The man nodded, and took me to the corner of the dining room, where Elisa was sitting, so totally absorbed into her Blackberry that she hadn't even noticed me until I was already settled into my chair, looking into my menu.

"Hello, dear." she said in a not-so-friendly fashion. She didn't even look up. "Just a minute."

I sighed, I was fifteen minutes late to lunch and she didn't have to time to close off her other issues. That was another thing that I couldn't stand about her.

"Would you mind telling me what I'm here for?" I finally asked after five minutes, when my drink came. I stirred it around for a couple of seconds, and took a sip.

She looked up to me as if she was astounded I was there at all. "Oh, I almost forgot about you. Please, sit down."

I raised an eyebrow at her, and fidgeted in my seat to prove a point. I studied her face for a trace of emotion, but I found none.

"So, if I'm correct, you have _no_ idea what you're here for." she said acidically. I smiled, and gave a little shrug, and much to my enjoyment, her face flushed red.

"None at all? Well, I'm sure you remember the request I made to you a little while ago. I told you to separate from your old friends and branch out to Hollywood. Have you kept that promise, Miss Swan?"

I felt my throat tighten. With a tone like that, I knew where the conversation was going. And I didn't like it.

"Yes, to a certain extent. We've already started to drift." I lied. Instead of smiling, like I thought she would, she scowled.

From her briefcase, she uncovered a magazine and smacked it on the table. She turned to a page. "Oh really?" she spat, "And is this what you call 'drifting'?"

My eyes fished down to the cover of the magazine she presented. I gasped. It wasn't a story, rather just a picture in the corner on a random page with other celebrities. My face grew hot.

It was a picture of Edward and I last night, outside, where we were half drunk and confessing our feelings for one another. Not so much confessing our feelings through words, but rather through actions. I was one thousand percent sure there were no paparazzi there; I was hyperaware of everything. How could this have happened?

"I-uh--"

"Explain this. _Now_." she whispered menacingly. I could have pictured her roaring by the intensity of her tone and for once, I didn't laugh when I pictured her like a lion. She looked that deadly.

I took a deep breath, and returned her stare evenly. I realized that if there was one way out of this, it was the truth. And I was going to have to tell it to her.

"When you told me I had to dump all my friends to hang out with Jacob Black, I didn't give you a willing and truthful answer. That's because I know for a fact that I will never let my friends down, they've helped me through everything, and I love them to death." I eyed Edwards figure on top of mines, and felt another rush of righteousness flood in my veins. "I know this whole Hollywood image thing may be a big deal to you, but I am entitled to do anything I want. You need to re-think your request, because I personally think it's over the line, and I won't stand for it."

It was a really short argument, but I thought that it worked out quite well. I actually thought that she would reconsider. Then I saw that wicked smile cast upon her Palin-esque face again.

Fat chance.

-

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**Heheehee... if you think Elisa is evil now, that's nothing. This Elisa thing centers around the whole plot. Short chapter, but I needed to get something out to you all.**

**If you watch the show Sonny With A Chance on Disney Channel, I've started a fanfic on that too, so you can look at it under the stories on my page. It's rather interesting, and it's along the lines of original—Sonny and Chad film an action movie together. I'm not a Demi Lovato fan... at all. The only reason I watch the show is to see my hubby, Sterling Knight. (You might recognize him as Zac Efron's son in 17 Again. Though he looks **_**much**_** cuter now.) In my fanfic, Sonny as a character is less perky and does not have a butt-chin, thank you very much. So even if you do find the show annoying, this fanfic isn't annoying at all. :)**

**Demi Lovato fans: Flames are accepted for the butt-chin remark, but don't expect me to respond to them.**

**Review! ( . . .Even though I won't be getting many hits since it's the fourth of July. Maybe **_**that's**_** why I didn't start getting reviews on this fic till I posted my second chapter, lol.)**


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